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BOARD  OF  EDUCATION 

NILES,  OHIO 


BULLETIN  1922 

The  School  Housing  Problem 
of  Niles,  Ohio 

Report  of  a  Survey  made  on  request  of  the 

Board  of  Education 

By 

GEORGE  R.  TWISS 

Professor  of  the  Principles  and  Practices  of  Education 
College  of  Education,  The  Ohio  State  University 


Niles,  Ohio 
Printing  Dept.,  McKinley  High  School 
1922 


133623 


■ 

LOS      tfGELES 
LI  J     aKY 


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CONTENTS 


Letter  of  transmittal  by  the  Superintendent  of  Schools. 
Introduction  by  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Education. 

I  Reasons  for  the  survey. 

II  An  appeal  to  the  public  for  support  and  co-operation. 
Chapter  I — The  City  and  the  Problem. 

I  The  city,  past,  present  and  future. 

II     Factors  of  the  school  building  problem. 
Ill     The  building  problem  defined. 
Chapter  II — The  emergency  and  how  to  deal  with  it. 
I     Congestion   in   the   first   six   grades. 

1.  Jefferson   School. 

2.  Jackson  School. 

3.  Lincoln  School. 

4.  Garfield  School. 

5.  Monroe   School. 

6.  Washington    School. 

7.  Grant  School. 

8.  Harrison   School. 

II  The  conditions  summarized. 

Ill     Congestion  in  Grades  Seven  to  Twelve. 

1.  The  facts  in  the  case. 

2.  Plans  to  meet  the  emergency. 

3.  Discussion  of  the  emergency  plans. 

4.  Plan  IV  is  recommended  for  adoption. 
Chapter  III — The  Problem  of  the  building  program. 

I  Forecasting  the   increases   in   enrolment. 

II  Calculating  the   additional   pupil   capacity  required. 

III  Determining  where  to  place  new  building  units. 

IV  Determining  capacity,  location  and  character  of  the  build- 

ing units  immediately  required. 
V     Units  that  will  be  needed  later. 

1.  The  East  Side. 

2.  The  West  Side. 

VI     Summary  of  the  building  program. 
Chapter  IV — Buildings  and  Building  Sites. 

I     The  Proposed  East  Side  Building,  No.   11. 

1.  The    architectural    problem. 

2.  What   the  plans  should   include. 

3.  Description   of   the   types   of  rooms. 

1.  The  Classrooms.     2.     The  Gymnasiums.     3.  Study 
halls    and     Library.      4.  The     Laboratories.      5.  The 


Shops.  6.  The  Mechanical  Drawing  Rooms.  7.  The 
Commercial  Rooms.  8.  The  Art  Room.  9.  The 
Music  Room.  10.  The  Auditorium.  11.  The  Cafe- 
teria and  Lunch  Room.  12.  General  Considerations. 
13.  Cost.  14.  Later  provisions  for  a  Senior  High 
School.  15.  Adequacy  of  the  plans. 
II— Sites. 

1.  Size  and  Cost. 

2.  Acquiring  the  sites. 

3.  A  splendid  opportunity  for  philanthropists. 
Ill — Existing  Ruildings. 

1.  Washington. 

2.  Monroe. 

3.  Jefferson. 

4.  Lincoln. 

5.  Jackson. 

6.  Grant. 


The  School  Housing  Problem 

REPORT  OF  A  SURVEY 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL  BY  THE  SUPERINTENDENT 
OF  SCHOOLS 

Niles,  Ohio,  April  1,  1922. 
Mr.  F.  C.  WagstaiT, 

President  Board  of  Education, 
Niles,  Ohio. 
My  dear  Sir: 

On  February  7,  1921,  Professor  George  R.  Twiss  of  the  Ohio  State 
University,  was  requested  to  make  a  survey  of  the  present  housing 
facilities  of  the  Niles  Public  Schools  and  make  recommendations 
for  a  building  program.  Professor  Twiss  spent  about  five  days  in 
Niles,  during  which  time  he  visited  every  school  several  times  in 
addition  to  visiting  every  part  of  the  city.  The  superintendent  of 
schools  and  teachers  collected  a  great  mass  of  materials,  statistics, 
blue  prints  and  carefully  marked  maps.  These  materials  were  placed 
in  the  hands  of  Professor  Twiss,  who  spent  more  than  ten  days  in 
working  over  the  materials  of  his  own  observations  and  the  ma- 
terials supplied  by  others. 

I  have  the  honor  of  transmitting  the  completed  report  to  the 
Board  of  Education.  The  work  of  the  specialist  was  very  carefully 
done.  The  figures  are  accurate;  estimates  for  the  future  are  con- 
servative. I  commend  the  report  to  the  Board  of  Education  and  the 
citizens  of  the  Niles  City  School  District  for  careful  perusal  and 
thou  htful  study.  I  believe  it  points  the  way  which  will  lead  to 
continued  conservative  progress. 

Very  respectfully, 

(Signed)   S.  L.  EBY, 

Superintendent    of   Schools. 

INTRODUCTION   BY  THE   PRESIDENT   OF   THE 
BOARD  OF  EDUCATION 

The  Board  of  Education  of  the  Niles  City  School  District  has 
been  laboring  under  two  handicaps  since  the  beginning  of  the  Great 
War,  namely,  lack  of  revenue  and  lack  of  school  buildings.  It  has 
been  necessary  to  levy  taxes  to  the  limit  permitted  by  law,  but  even 


by  so  doing  the  Niles  City  Board  of  Education  has  up  to  the  present 
time  been  unable  to  keep  pace  with  the  rapidly  growing  school 
system  in  Niles.  The  Board  of  Education  has  given  unstintingly 
almost  unlimited  time,  its  best  thought,  and  conscientious  labor. 
The  Board  secured  the  services  of  Professor  Twiss,  who  served  on 
the  staff  which  made  a  survey  of  the  schools  of  Wilmington,  Dela- 
ware. He  was  also  a  member  of  the  commission  sent  under  the 
auspices  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  to  make  a  survey 
of  the  schools  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  Since  making  the  survey  in 
Niles,  Professor  Twiss  was  commissioned  by  the  General  Education 
Board  to  make  a  survey  of  the  colored  secondary  schools  and 
colleges  in  the  South. 

The  report  which  follows  has  been  held  in  abeyance  until  the 
present  time.  In  some  ways  this  has  been  an  advantage.  The 
statistics  are  those  of  the  school  year  1921.  Experience  for  the 
year  1922  has  proved  unexpected  accuracy  in  predictions  of  enrol- 
ment. In  fact,  figures  of  the  report  tend  to  fall  below  rather  than 
surpass  actual  figures  of  enrolment  in  the  next  three  or  four  years. 
This  fact  proves  the  wisdom  of  the  Board  of  Education  in  securing 
rn  expert  to  make  the  present  study  and  furthermore  demonstrates 
the  necessity  of  placing  the  information  in  the  report  in  the  hands 
of  interested  citizens  in  order  that  there  may  be  no  delay  in  making 
adequate  provisions  for  the  upper  grades  o.f  our  schools. 

Since  the  first  draft  of  the  report  was  submitted  a  number  of 
the  recommendations  pertaining  to  the  elementary  schools  have  been 
carried  out.  The  recommendations  which  touch  the  Junior  and 
Senior  High  Schools  are  matters  for  the  future. 

The  Board  of  Education  submit  the  text  of  the  report  to  the 
public  for  careful  study  and  constructive  criticism.  The  schools  are 
yours,  the  moneys  to  be  expended  are  yours.  The  members  of  the 
Board  are  your  conscientious  servants.  They  solicit  your  support 
in  carrying  out  either  in  whole  or  in  part  the  recommendations  of 
the  following  report.  Action  is  imperative;  delay  is  folly. 
(Signed;  FBANK  C.  WAGSTAFF, 

President  Niles  City  Board  of  Education. 

REASONS    FOR   THE   SURVEY 

The  City  of  Niles  has  been  growing  very  rapidly.  Within  the 
space  of  a  few  years  the  school  system  has  developed  from  a 
village  system  to  a  city  school  system.  The  school  system  has  not 
kept  pace  with  the  growth  and  development  of  the  city.  The  re- 
strictions of  war  times  have  aggravated  the  inadequacy  of  buildings 
and  funds  for  school  purposes. 

Another  factor  which  contributed  largely  in  rendering  the  school 
facilities  of  Niles  inadequate  is  the  great  emphasis  laid  on  high 
school  and  college  training  in  the  army.  The  preference  shown 
in  the  army  for  men  of  hi  her  education  has  given  a  strong  in- 
centive to  young  men  to  get  at  least  a  hi  h  school  education  in 
order  not  to  be  handicapped  in  the  future.  The  struggle  for  a 
higher  education  has  tended  to  fill  the  upper  grades  in  all  public 
schools. 

—6— 


A  third  factor  contributing  to  the  congestion  of  the  upper  grades 
of  our  school  system  is  the  change  in  the  compulsory  education 
laws.  The  latest  law  requires  all  youth  to  remain  in  school  until 
the  age  of  16,  and  through  the  seventh  grade.  The  normal  child 
will  have  had  two  years  of  high  school  work  and  the  retarded 
pupil  at  least  one  year  of  junior  high  school  work.  Under  the  old 
law  the  age  limit  was  one  year  lower. 

A  glance  at  maps  showing  the  geographic  distribution  of  the 
pupils  in  the  Niles  schools  shows  that  about  two-thirds  of  the 
pupils  live  in  the  east  end  of  the  city.  At  present  there  are  build- 
ings with  sixty-six  school  rooms  wrest  of  Mosquito  Creek  where  one- 
third  of  the  pupils  live.  East  of  the  creek  to  accommodate  two- 
thirds  of  the  pupils  there  are  twenty-eight  rooms.  The  distribution 
of  buildings  no  longer  conforms  to  the  distribution  of  school  popu- 
lation. For  the  reason  of  the  present  distribution  of  school  buildings 
it  is  important  to  have  a  survey  in  order  that  there  may  be  a 
readjustment  of  buildings  to  school  population. 

The  last  decade  has  seen  notable  advances  in  public  school 
administration.  Progressive  boards  of  education  are  employing  the 
same  principles  of  business  and  scientific  management  that  private 
business  is  using.  Boards  of  education  no  longer  are  pursuing  a 
narrow  policy,  but  have  a  vision  of  future  growth  and  needs.  They 
are  formulating  policies  which  look  twrenty,  thirty,  forty  and  even 
fifty  years  in  the  future.  Careful  study  of  past  and  present  condi- 
tions and  needs  will  give  reasonable  certainty  in  predicting  future 
conditions  and  needs.  In  no  field  of  public  service  is  insight  and 
vision  more  important  than  in  public  education. 

The  Niles  City  Board  of  Education  has  had  thrust  upon  them  a 
keen  realization  of  rapid  growth  of  the  city,  the  increasing  im- 
portance attached  to  the  higher  phases  of  education,  the  increased 
responsibility  thrust  upon  the  public  schools  by  the  new  compulsory 
education  laws,  the  increasing  maladjustment  of  school  buildings  to 
school  population.  Realizing  the  foregoing,  having  a  vision  of  and 
a  faith  in  the  future  of  Niles,  and  having  adopted  sound  principles 
of  scientific  business  management,  the  Board  of  Education  has  not 
only  given  most  careful  thou  ht  to  the  problems  confronting  them, 
but  has  called  upon  the  specialist  for  his  counsel  and  recommenda- 
tions. The  Board  of  Education,  the  Superintendent  of  Schools  and 
the  specialist  have  pooled  their  efforts  and  best  thoughts.  This  is 
at  least  partially  crystallized  and  reduced  to  permanent  form  in  the 
following  report.  By  a  careful  study  and  constructive  criticism 
there  will  be  formulated  a  composite  judgment  which  will  guide  in 
giving  Niles  a  progressive,  economical  and  adequate  school  system. 
The  following  report  is  commended  to  all  friends  of  education  in 
the  City  of  Niles  for  their  study,  for  criticism,  for  additional 
suggestions. 

AN  APPEAL  TO  THE  PUBLIC  FOR  SUPPORT 
AND  CO-OPERATION 

The  Niles  City  Board  of  Education  has  been  making  a  conscien- 
tious  effort   to   provide   the   city   of   Niles   with   a   system   of   schools 


second  to  none  in  the  state.  The  responsibility  has  been  heavy  and 
the  difficulties  great.  Efforts  have  been  directed  along  the  line  of 
scientific  management  in  the  administration  of  the  schools;  of 
formulating  a  course  of  study  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  com- 
munity; of  furnishing  the  best  possible  instruction;  and  providing 
adequate  facilities,  such  as  school  buildings  and  equipment  in  order 
that  the  educational  work  may  be  carried  on  as  it  should  be. 

The  chief  difficulty  in  carrying  out  the  educational  policy  of 
the  Board  of  Education  has  been  lack  of  school  rooms  and  equip- 
ment. To  date  the  provisions  for  the  first  six  grades  are  almost 
adequate  to  give  all  the  children  a  seat  all  day  in  a  regular  school 
room. 

The  upper  grades  are  at  present  most  seriously  handicapped. 
Next  year  the  senior  high  school  will  be  more  than  double  what  it 
was  in  1915.  By  1924  the  senior  high  school  will  enroll  800  at  a 
conservative  estimate.  The  junior  high  school  enrolls  438  at  present. 
This  department  will  increase.  By  1925  these  two  departments  will 
have  an  enrollment  of  1300  to  1400  students.  Present  hi  h  school 
accommodations  provide  for  not  more  than  600  to  650  if  state  laws 
and  rules  of  hygiene  and  sanitation  are  obeyed.  The  Board  of 
Education  has  permission  to  use  Old  Central  only  through  the  year 
1922-1923.  What  is  to  be  done  after  1923  is  problematical.  It  is  a 
fact  that  room  must  be  found  somewhere  for  600  to  800  high  school 
students  by  September  1924.  Conditions  at  best  will  be  unsatisfac- 
tory next  year.  Every  year  will  be  worse  until  sufficient  room  will 
be  provided  for  the  junior  and  senior  high  schools. 

Niles  is  growing  rapidly.  Enrolment  has  increased  the  past  few 
years  at  the  rate  of  260  a  year.  This  means  six  to  eight  rooms  and 
teachers  a  year  must  be  added.  Every  year  a  building  of  at  least 
six  rooms  must  be  built  to  take  care  of  increased  enrolment.  There 
is  only  one  condition  which  will  render  the  school  plant  in  Niles 
adequate,  namely,  a  complete  arrest  in  the  growth  and  prosperity 
of  Niles.  No  one  having  faith  in  our  city  can  believe  such  a  con- 
dition possible.  It  is  more  reasonable  to  believe  that  1922  will 
witness  250  new  pupils  entering  the  Niles  schools — one  six-room 
building;  1923,  250  pupils — another  six-room  building;  1924,  250 
pupils,  still  another  six-room  building.  As  soon  as  it  can  be  built 
the  Niles  schools  will  fill  a  new  sixteen-room  building.  The  new 
building  should  be  one  adaptable  to  elementary  school,  junior  high 
school  and  senior  high  school  work.  The  building  should  have 
facilities  for  teaching  a  varied  course  of  study.  As  soon  as  it 
could  be  built  it  would  probably  have  assigned  to  it  elementary 
pupils  and  junior  high  school  pupils.  There  is  a  probability  that 
within  a  few  years  it  would  have  to  take  care  of  several  hundred 
senior  high   school   pupils. 

The  Board  of  Education  is  the  representative  body  of  the  citizens 
of  Niles,  whose  duty  it  is  to  provide  facilities  for  the  education  of 
the  children  of  Niles.  In  certain  respects  the  Board  of  Education 
can  take  no  action  without  the  direct  approval  of  the  electors  of  the 
school  district.  Any  expenditure  of  money  other  than  for  current 
operating  expense  requires  the  direct  approval  of  the  electors. 
There  are  a  few  exceptions  to  this  general  statement.     Howver,  any 

-8— 


project  such  as  suggested  in  this  report  will  require  a  majority  vote 
of  the  electors.  Every  citizen  of  Niles  should  keep  in  mind  the  one 
freat  outstanding  fact,  THE  INCREASE  IN  ENROLMENT  IN  THE 
NILES  SCHOOLS  IS  260  PER  YEAR,  EVERY  YEAR  REQUIRES 
THE  ADDITION  OF  SIX  TO  EIGHT  SCHOOL  ROOMS  TO  TAKt 
CARE  OF  THE  INCREASE.  To  build  one  small  building  each  year 
would  be  impractical.  The  only  feasible  solution  of  the  problem 
confronting  the  Board  of  Education  is  to  build  school  houses  in 
much  larger  units  than  in  the  past.  By  so  doing  it  will  be  wise 
economy  in  all  respects.  The  citizens  of  Niles  are  most  urgently 
invited  to  study  the  growth  of  the  Niles  schools  as  set  forth  in  this 
report.  Their  support  and  co-operation  is  most  important  in  solving 
the  problem  confronting  Niles.  Superintendents  and  boards  of  edu- 
cation are  the  servants  of  the  public.  They  come  and  go.  The 
schools  belong  to  the  people  and  are  as  permanent  as  the  city  itself. 
The  future  welfare  and  prosperity  of  Niles  depends  to  a  great  degree 
on  her  public  schools.  Every  citizen  who  is  interested  in  the 
progress  and  prosperity  of  our  city  should  use  his  influence  towards 
providing  adequate  facilities  for  the  school  children  of  Niles.  The 
responsibility  is  yours,  the  Board  of  Education  are  your  servants. 
They  are  awaiting  your  decision  on  the  next  step  to  be  taken  in 
providing  sufficient  school  buildings  to  take  care  of  the  upper 
grades  of  the  public  schools.     What  will  your  decision  be? 


-9- 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  CITY  AND  THE  PROBLEM 

I.      THE    CITY,    PRESENT    AND    FUTURE. 

Niles  is  pre-eminently  a  manufacturing  city.  Situated  as  it  is.  in 
the  Mahoning  Valley,  strategically  placed  by  nature  at  a  convenient 
meeting  point  for  the  iron  ore  from  the  upper  lake  region,  and  the 
coal  and  coke  from  the  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  fields,  in  close  prox- 
imity to  the  limestone  and  fireclay  deposits  needed  for  fluxes  and 
furnace  linings,  and  with  abundant  outlying  territory  over  which  it 
may  expand,  the  destiny  of  the  city  as  a  large  manufacturing  center 
for  iron  and  steel  products  is  clearly  indicated.  To  these  natural 
advantages  are  added  the  transportation  facilities  afforded  by  three 
railways,  the  Erie,  the  Pennsylvania  and  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio,  and 
the  P.  &  O.  interurban  trolley  line.  To  these,  it  is  pointed  out,  may  be 
added  in  the  not  distant  future,  the  long  dreamed-of  ship  canal  from 
Lake  Erie  to  the  Ohio  River. 

In  view  of  these  facts  and  indications,  it  is  confidently  predicted  by 
business  men  that  before  many  years  have  rolled  by  the  entire  Ma- 
honing Valley  between  Warren  and  Youngstown  will  have  become 
one  continuous  manufacturing  community. 

Niles  is  already  growing  rapidly.  According  to  the  United  States 
census  of  1910,  its  population  was  8,361.  The  1920  census  reports  it 
as  13,080.  This  is  an  increase  for  the  ten-year  period  of  4,719,  or  5G 
per  cent. 

With  the  growth  of  the  city  in  population  and  wealth,  there  has 
come  to  its  people  a  rising  consciousness  of  resourcefulness  and 
power,  and  a  pride  of  enterprise  and  public  spirit  which  gives  prom- 
ise that  her  people  are  ready  to  grapple  with  their  problems  of  public 
interest  in  a  forward-looking  way.  They  are  beginning  to  think  time 
not  in  months  and  years,  but  in  decades,  and  to  estimate  costs  not  in 
hundreds  of  dollars,  but  in  hundreds  of  thousands. 

II.      FACTORS    OF    THE    SCHOOL    BUILDING    PROBLEM. 

Absolutely  the  most  important  factor  in  the  future  growth  and 
prosperity  of  the  city  is  the  education  of  her  citizens.  The  knowledge, 
the  training,  the  enterprising  spirit  of  the  men  and  women  who  are 
now  directing  the  city's  destinies  must  be  passed  on  to  the  rising  gen- 
eration of  children,  who  will  soon  be  controlling  the  activities -in 
which  their  parents  are  now  engaged.     If  education  is  not  provided 

—10— 


for  in  the  best  and  most  scientific  manner,  the  city  will  fall  behind 
other  and  neighboring  communities  both  in  material  prosperity,  and 
in  all  those  spiritual  qualities  that  make  a  city  an  advantageous  place 
in  which  to  live  and  work.  Hence  in  any  large  and  forward-looking 
program  for  city  development, — in  any  plans  for  the  future  which 
may  be  shaping  themselves  in  the  minds  of  the  members  of  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce,  Rotary  Club,  Kiwanis  Club,  Federation  of  Churches, 
Women's  Clubs  or  other  organizations  commonly  taking  part  in  city 
development — the  schools  and  their  needs  must  be  among  the  first  and 
most  important  items  to  receive  consideration. 

Shall  Niles  pursue  a  hand-to-mouth  policy,  resorting  year  after 
year  to  such  expedients  as  crowding  children  into  school  rooms  be- 
yond their  normal  seating  capacity  and  air  space,  or  as  placing  them 
in  ill-lighted  and  ill-ventilated  basement  rooms?  Shall  she  remand 
her  children  to  condemned  and  abandoned  buildings,  or  place  them 
in  portables,  which  obstruct  the  light  and  occupy  the  playground 
space,  or  restrict  them  to  the  unpopular  and  inefficient  platoon  system 
with  half-day  sessions?  With  an  average  new  crop  of  nearly  three 
hundred  children  coming  on  each  year,  and  with  the  high  school 
building  now  crowded  to  forty  per  cent  beyond  its  normal  capacity, 
shall  the  board  of  education  delay  until  three  or  four  hundred  chil- 
dren are  turned  out  on  the  streets  before  it  plans  a  new  building  or 
even  secures  a  site  for  one?  This  is  the  way  that  the  school  building 
problem  has  been  handled  in  hundreds  of  our  growing  cities  during 
the  past  fifty  years;  and  it  has  resulted  in  enormous  and  pitiable 
economic  and  social  wastes. 

Fortunately,  however,  progressive  cities  have  found  a  better  way. 
They  have  begun  to  apply  to  the  management  of  the  schools  the  scien- 
tific principles  of  engineering  that  have  proved  to  be  so  successful  in 
the  management  of  big  business  enterprises. 

Railroad  companies  locate  their  switches  and  terminals,  and  se- 
cure the  necessary  land,  years  ahead  of  the  time  when  its  need  will 
become  imperatively  pressing.  Industrial  corporations  secure  their 
land  for  expansion  and  plan  additions  to  their  manufacturing  and 
selling  plants  years  before  the  time  when  their  business  will  become 
handicapped  in  competition  by  cramped  quarters.  Telephone  com- 
panies and  banks  select  the  sites  and  plan  their  branches  to  keep 
pace  with  the  growth  of  the  cities  where  they  are  operating,  and  the 
branches  are  ready  when  the  business  comes.  Business  men  and 
public-spirited  citizens  in  many  progressive  cities  are  now  coming  to 
realize  that  the  schools  constitute  a  basic  factor  in  all  economic  de- 
velopment and  civic  progress;  and  so  in  many  of  our  cities,  surveys 
of  the  conditions  and  future  needs  for  the  school  plant  are  being 
carried  out;  and  provisions  for  properly  located  school  sites,  and  for 
buildings  adequately  planned  for  modern  school  activities  are  being 
intelligently  made. 

With  this  new  type  of  school  policy  in  view;  with  a  keen  sense  of 
the  present  congested  condition  of  the  school  plant,  and  with  the 
feeling  that  the  problem  of  expansion  must  be  solved  and  solved  right, 
the  Niles  Board  of  Education,  and  its  general  manager,  the  Superin- 
tendent of  Schools,  have  employed  the  writer  to  make  a  careful 
survey  of  the  school  housing  conditions  in  Niles.  The  purpose  of  the 
survey  is  to  assist  them  in   outlining  a   building  program  that  shall 

—11— 


provide  for  the  needs  of  a  school  system  to  be  kept  abreast  of  the 
times  in  quality,  while  expanding  in  size  to  meet  adequately  the  needs 
of  the  growing  city. 

III.      THE   BUILDING   PROBLEM   DEFINED. 

The  first  step  in  the  survey  was  to  get  at  the  facts  as  to  present 
conditions  of  congestion,  as  to  the  rate  of  growth  of  the  school  popu- 
lation and  as  to  the  directions  in  which  the  flow  of  population  is 
lending.  Accordingly,  at  the  request  of  the  Surveyor  and  with  the 
assistance  of  the  teachers  and  the  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
Superintendent  Eby  secured  such  data  as  to  the  school  enrollments 
of  1915  and  1920  as  were  available,  and  had  them  tabulated  by  schools 
and  grades  according  to  the  directions  accompanying  the  request.  He 
was  asked  also  to  have  prepared  at  each  school  building  a  map  of  the 
city  mounted  on  soft  wood,  on  which  the  home  of  each  child  in  at- 
tendance should  be  located.  This  was  done  by  having  each  child, 
under  the  supervision  of  the  teacher,  stick  a  pin  in  the  map  at  the 
point  representing  the  location  of  his  home. 

By  means  of  the  tabulated  enrollments  and  the  pin-maps  for  the 
several  schools  and  by  means  of  careful  inspections  of  all  the  build- 
ings, it  has  been  possible  to  determine  the  present  conditions.  Also 
by  motoring  over  every  part  of  the  school  district  and  beyond  its 
boundaries  in  every  direction  it  has  been  possible  in  connection  with 
the  pin  maps,  and  with  other  information  that  was  available,  to  get 
a  good  line  on  the  geography  of  the  city  and  the  probable  areas  over 
which  the  population  will  flow  during  the  next  ten  years.  The  data 
at  hand  enables  us  clearly  to  define  the  problem  that  the  Board  of 
Education  is  facing.    There  are  two  distinct  phases  of  this  problem. — 

1.  What  must  be  done  to  meet  the  emergency  presented  by  the 
increase  of  school  enrolment  that  will  certainly  take  place 
next  fall? 

2.  What  are  the  essential  details  of  a  building  program  that  shall 
provide  for  the  children,  as  fast  as  they  come  on,  the  necessary 
school  sites  and  school  buildings,  each  adequate  in  size,  cor- 
rectly located  and  alfording  all  the  facilities  of  a  thoroughly 
modernized  school? 

In  solving  the  first  or  emergency  phase  of  the  problem  it  is  neces- 
sary to  deal  mainly  with  some  temporary  expedients  such  as  are  not 
to  be  thought  of  in  connection  with  a  permanent  educational  policy; 
while  in  solving  the  second,  plans  must  be  laid  for  a  scienti.'ic  ex- 
pansion of  the  school  plant  during  the  coming  decade.  The  present 
emergency  must  first  be  met;  and  then  the  plans  for  the  coming  ten- 
year  period  must  be  so  made  that  when  they  are  carried  out,  the  board 
of  education  of  fifteen  and  of  twenty-five  years  hence  shall  inherit 
from  the  present  no  legacies  of  overcrowding,  no  inadequate  or  badly 
located  sites,  and  no  misfit  or  ill-planned  buildings,  such  as  the 
present  board  has  to  deal  with.  The  Time  to  Do  This  Is  Now;  and  So 
Favorable  a  Time  Will  Never  Come  Again. 


-12— 


CHAPTER  II. 
THE  EMERGENCY  AND  HOW  TO  DEAL  WITH  IT 

I.      CONGESTION   IN   THE   FIRST   SIX  GRADES. 

Table  1  shows  for  each  building  what  grades,  if  any,  are  now  over- 
crowded. On  scanning  this  table  the  following  facts  become  ap- 
parent. 

1.  In  Jefferson  School  there  are  only  6  pupils  in  excess  of  the 
number  of  seats,  in  two  of  the  rooms;  so  that  the  congestion  here  does 
not  look  serious  (column  9).  However  (column  10)  there  are  in  five 
looms  31  seats  in  excess  of  the  legal  limits  for  these  rooms,  and 
(column  7)  there  are  in  six  rooms  34  pupils  in  excess  of  the  numbers 
for  whom  these  rooms  provide  the  amount  of  air  space  required  by 
state  law.  (Compare  columns  4  and  5.  The  law  requires  that  200 
cubic  feet  per  pupil  be  provided  for  grades  I  to  IV,  225  for  grades  V 
to  VIII,  and  250  for  grades  IX  to  XII.)  It  might  be  thought  that 
when  congestion  occurs-  in  one  room,  pupils  can  be  shifted  to  another 
where  there  is  vacant  space;  but  this  is  rarely  possible,  because  those 
rooms  are  usually  occupied  by  pupils  of  a  different  grade,  who  are 
older  or  younger  and  ere  doing  entirely  different  work. 

The  congestion  in  Jefferson  school  is  located  in  grades  I  and  II, 
where  there  are  25  pupils  in  excess,  and  in  grades  V  and  VI,  where 
there  are  7  pupils  in  excess. 

2  In  Jackson  school  there  are  17  more  seats  than  the  law  allows; 
but  at  present  only  5  pupils  in  excess  of  the  legal  limit.  These  are  in 
the  two  6th  grade  rooms. 

3  In  Lincoln  school  there  are  apparently  only  4  pupils  in  excess 
of  the  legal  limit;  but  by  reference  to  column  11  it  will  be  seen  that 
there  are  42  pupils  of  grade  I  to  whom  no  seats  are  assigned.  This 
<  rade  of  102  children  has  been  assigned  to  rooms  1  and  2 — 85  to  Room 
1  and  17  to  Room  2,  which  they  occupy  along  with  29  pupils  of  the 
2d  grade.  The  85  pupils  assigned  to  Room  1  are  divided  into  two 
platoons  on  half-day  sessions,  43  pupils  attending  three  hours  in  the 
morning  and  the  other  42  attending  three  hours  in  the  afternoon. 
This  form  of  platoon  system  is  both  inefficient  and  unpopular.  Par- 
ents and  pupils  do  not  like  it  and  school  men  tolerate  it  only  in  an 
emergency  when  there  is  no  other  remedy  for  congestion.  Over- 
crowding in  this  building  is  prevented  by  restricting  85  pupils  out  of 
398  to  half-day  sessions.  The  platoon  system  must  not  be  confused 
v.  iih  the  Work — Study — Play  plan. 

—13— 


4.  In  Garfield  school  there  are  59  more  pupils  enrolled  in  that 
building  than  its  four  rooms  provide  for.  These  are  now  being 
taught  in  the  upper  hall  and  in  a  rented  room,  neither  of  which  is 
fit  for  permanent  occupancy.  The  Board  of  Education  has  accepted 
plans  for  a  six-room  addition  to  this  building.  This  addition,  if  com- 
pleted by  the  opening  of  school  next  fall,  will  take  care  of  the  excess 
pupils  in  this  section  of  the  city  and  also  some  from  neighboring 
sections.  Every  possible  effort  should  be  made  to  have  the  additional 
class  rooms  ready  on  time. 

5.  The  Monroe  school  is  not  congested,  but  is  practically  filled 
up.  There  is  space  for  only  38  more  pupils  in  its  four  rooms.  See 
Column  7.  The  location  of  this  school  is  very  unfortunate  on  account 
of  the  noise  and  smoke  from  tracks  of  the  Erie  Railroad,  which  are 
separated  from  it  only  by  the  width  of  two  vacant  lots.  In  the  rooms 
on  the  side  toward  the  railroad,  recitations  cannot  be  carried  on  suc- 
cessfully while  trains  are  passing,  so  there  is  much  interruption  of 
work  throughout  the  day. 

6.  The  Washington,  or  Old  Central  building,  contains  8  available 
rooms,  5  of  which  are  used  for  the  shop  and  drawing  work  of  the 
high  school  and  the  3  remaining  for  a  4th,  a  7th  and  an  8th  grade. 
This  building  is  not  congested;  but  for  other  reasons  that  will  be 
mentioned  later,  is  not  fit  for  housing  school  children;  and  its  con- 
tinued use  for  such  a  purpose  can  be  defended  only  on  the  grounds 
of  extreme  necessity,  as  an  emergency  measure  only. 

7.  The  Grant  building  is  a  two-room  structure  on  a  small  lot,  the 
rooms  being  on  the  plan  of  the  obsolete  one-room  rural  school.  It 
also  is  entirely  unfit  for  the  ordinary  purposes  of  a  modern  city 
school.  It  houses  in  these  twTo  rooms  a  1st  and  2nd  grade  and  is  not 
over-crowded;  but  the  2nd  grade  is  on  half-day  sessions  on  the 
platoon  plan  in  order  to  share  the  room  with  a  3rd  grade  which  also 
occupies  it  during  haLf  of  each  school  day.  This  3rd  grade  has  46 
pupils.  Overcrowding  is  preventing  by  restricting  89  pupils  out  of  131 
to  half-day  sessions. 

8.  The  Harrison  building  at  McKinley  Heights  is  a  four-room 
structure,  all  of  whose  rooms  are  too  small.  It  has  7  more  pupils 
and  27  more  seats  than  the  air  space  required  by  law  permits. 

II.      THE    SOLUTION. 

The  accompanying  table  summarizes  the  number  of  pupils  in  ex- 
cess of  legal  air  space  for  all  rooms  in  each  of  these  buildings;  and 
shows  at  a  glance  the  buildings  in  which  the  congestion  is,  and  in 
what  grades  the  overflow  is  to  be  found. 

Excess   of  Pupils   in   Grades   I-VI   Over    Numbers   for   Whom  Legally 
Acceptable    Accommodations    are    Available — Distributed 
by  Grades  and  Schools. 
Grades 

Schools                                  12          3          4          5          6  Total 

Jefferson    10        15                      2          3          4  34 

Lincoln  42                                 2          1           1  46 

Jackson     __         __         __                                 5  5 

Garfield    —        37        22         __         __         __  59* 

Grant    —         —        46        __         __         __  46 

Harrison     3          3          1         __         __  7 

Totals  6  schools   52        55        71  5  4         10        197 

—14— 


Washington  __         _•_         __        38        __         __  38 

Grant    42        43        __         __         __         __  85 

Totals**  8  schools 94        98         71         43  4         10        320 

*     In   upper   hall    and   a    rented    room,   hoth    of    which    should    be 
abandoned. 
**     Including   pupils    in    Washington    and    Grant    buildings,   both    of 
which  should  be  abandoned. 
It  is  worst  in  the  three  lowest  grades  and  is  about  equally  bad  in 

four  buildings,  Jefferson,  Lincoln,  Garfield  and  Grant.  There  are  in 
these  six  grades  197  more  pupils  than  the  available  rooms  now  in 
use  (that  is  including  one  at  Washington  and  excluding  the  seated  hall 
and  rented  room  at  Garfield)  can  normally  provide  for.  This  con- 
dition is  bad;  but  some  relief  is  at  hand.  The  Roosevelt  building  with 
8  rooms,  capable  of  properly  housing  306  pupils,  will  in  all  probability 
be  in  readiness  next  September.  By  means  of  careful  adjustment  of 
district  boundaries,  with  the  pin  maps  and  the  accompanying  tabula- 
tions before  him,  the  Superintendent  can  take  care  of  the  overilow 
from  the  crowded  elementary  buildings.  There  probably  will  be  space 
for  these  and  for  the  normal  yearly  increase  in  the  enrolment  of  the 
ftrst  six  grades;  but  a  very  real  difficulty  in  re-adjusting  will  occur  in 
avoiding  the  evil  of  sending  children  too  far  from  their  homes.  It  is 
necessary  to  say,  however,  (hat  the  Roosevelt  building  must  be  com- 
pleted with  all  equipment  in,  and  seats  ready  for  occupancy  at  the 
opening  of  school  next  September.  No  more  seats  should  be  placed  in 
this  building  than  the  numbers  listed  in  column  7  of  Table  1 — 
namely  306. 

More  specifically,  the  status  with  reference  to  this  phase  of  the 
problem  is  as  follows: 

Enrolment,  all  schools,  grades  I-VI,  1920 1825 

Enrolment,  all  schools,  grades  I-VI,  1915 1162 

Increase  past  5  years  1915-1920 663 

Percentage  increase  over  1915 57 

Estimated  increase  1920-1925  (577r  of  1825)   1040 

Increase  1  year  1920-21   (1-5  of  1040)  208 

Excess  of  pupils  at  present 197 

Excess  pupils  Sept.  1921  over  present  available  capacity 405 

Less  seats  to  be  provided  by  Roosevelt  building 306 

Net  excess  Sept.  1921 99 

There  is  now  an  aggregate  vacant  legal  seating  capacity  for  186 
pupils  (see  Table  I-A,  Column  5j,  so  scattered  about  the  city  in 
various  buildings  and  rooms  that  most  of  it  cannot  now  be  used.  This 
is  because  small  odd  lots  of  pupils  from  one  grade  cannot  ordinarily 
be  tau  ht  in  a  room  occupied  by  a  higher  or  a  lower  grade.  It  seems 
fairly  probable,  however,  that  the  net  estimated  excess  of  99  pupils 
may  be  absorbed  among  these  186  vacant  seats.  It  is  not  safe  to  count 
on  such  a  contingency,  however,  and  therefore  no  effort  should  be 
spared  to  get  the  Garfield  addition  finished,  equipped  and  ready  for 
occupancy  along  with  the  Roosevelt  building  by  September  next. 

With  Garfield  addition  completed,  the  status  would  be  as  given 
below: 

—15— 


New  capacity  Roosevelt  building 306 

New  capacity  Garfield  building 228 

Total  new  capacity  Sept.  1921 534 

Less  estimated  excess  of  pupils  over  present  available  capacity  —  405 

Net  excess  capacity  Sept.  1921  129 

Less  1  room  in  Washington  (46),  and  2  in  Grant  (88) 134 

Number  of  pupils  in  excess  of  capacity  Sept.  1921  with  both 
Roosevelt  and  Garfield  addition  in  commission  and  with 

Washington  and  Grant  abandoned 5 

Our  assumption  with  reference  to  the  rate  of  increase  of  pupils 
is  the  only  factor  involving  doubt.  If  this  rate  holds  for  the  present 
year  as  it  has  on  the  average  for  the  past  five  years,  there  will  be  5 
more  pupils  than  the  number  for  which  there  will  be  available 
capacity.  However,  as  in  the  estimate  just  preceding  this  one  there 
is  now  in  various  scattered  rooms  capacity  for  186  pupils  which  is 
not  utilized;  and  it  is  probable  that  by  careful  study  and  shifting  a 
considerable  part  of  this  unused  capacity  may  be  made  available  so 
as  to  absorb  the  small  excess  of  pupils. 

III.      CONGESTION  IN  GRADES  SEVEN  TO  TWELVE. 

1.     The  Facts  in  the  Case. 
The  most  serious  emergency  problem  with  regard  to  overcrowding 
is  in  the  7th,  8th  and  9th  grades  (Junior  High  School)  and  the  10th, 
11th  and  12th  grades  (Senior  High  School). 

Six  hundred  ninety-eight  pupils  of  these  grades  are  now  enrolled 
in  the  McKinley  High  School  Ruilding,  which  originally  was  designed 
and  expected  to  accommodate  not  more  than  507.  See  Table  V, 
Column  6.  I  have  made  a  careful  survey  of  the  building  with  refer- 
ence to  its  pupil  capacity.  My  analysis  and  calculations  show  that  if 
we  assume  an  average  of  25  pupils  per  class  (which  is  the  standard) 
and  also  assume  that  every  room  and  laboratory  is  in  use  by  such  a 
class  for  85%  of  the  running  time,  the  building  as  it  now  stands  can 
accommodate  663  (see  Table  6)  pupils.  This  represents  its  actual 
maximum  capacity;  for  85%  efficiency  in  the  planning  and  operation 
of  the  time  schedule  is  about  the  best  that  can  be  attained  if  we 
assume  that  the  schedule  is  based  on  a  modern  varied  curriculum 
with  departmental  instruction  and  with  full  use  of  study  halls,  gym- 
nasiums and  laboratories  during  a  six  or  seven-period  day  without 
resorting  to  the  platoon  system  or  to  the  Gary  (work-study-play) 
system.  By  comparing  the  capacity"  as  calculated  (663)  with  the 
latest  official  enrolment  (705)  ii  will  be  observed  that  the  building 
now  actually  holds  forty-two  more  pupils  than  it  is  theoretically 
possible  to  crowd  into  it  and  at  the  same  time  operate  it  with  reason- 
able educational   efficiency   on  the   usual   plan   of   operation. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  and  in  confirmation  of  my  calculations,  it  may 
be  stated  that  in  seven  of  the  eight  rooms  occupied  by  grades  7  and  8, 
there  are  48  more  seats  in  use  than  the  architect's  blueprint  pre- 
scribes; and  there  are  in  various  rooms  a  total  of  48  pupils  in  excess 
of  the  number  for  which  air  space  is  provided  as  required  by  state 
law.    See  Table  I. 

This,  however,  is  not  by  any  means  the  whole  story.    There  are 

—16— 


/9  pupils  of  the  7th  and  8th  grades  who  ought  to  be  housed  with  the 
others,  but  are  now  housed  in  the  Washington  or  Old  Central  building; 
and  there  are  also  3  shop  rooms  and  a  drawing  room  in  this  latter 
building  that  are  being  used  by  senior  and  junior  high  school  pupils, 
who  lose  much  time  in  going  and  coming  between  the  two  buildings, 
and  ought  to  be  accommodated  at  the  McKinley  building.  It  is  quite 
clear  therefore  that  at  their  present  capacity,  both  the  McKinley  High 
School  and  the  Old  Central  Building  are  now  fully  utilized  and  in  fact 
overcrowded.  Hence  even  assuming  that  the  Old  Central  building, 
unsafe,  insanitary  and  unhygienic  as  it  is,  were  to  be  used  next 
fall,  there  is  no  room  available  in  either  building  to  take  care  of  the 
increase  of  approximately  177  pupils  who  will  swell  the  enrolment 
in  the  six  upper  grades  next  September. 

In  taking:  account  of  the  gains  in  school  population  due  to  In- 
crease in  the  population  of  the  city  and  of  the  losses  due  to  dropping 
out  of  school,  I  have  used  for  grades  VII  and  VIII  the  averag-e  percent- 
age of  gains  in  enrolment  per  pear  for  the  past  five  years  and  the 
average  of  the  percentage  losses  for  the  years  1915  and  1920.  By 
applying  these  percentages  to  276  for  next  year's  7th  grade  and  203 
for  next  year's  8th  grade,  I  estimate  a  net  loss  of  38  pupils  for  the 
former  and  a  net  loss  of  19  pupils  for  the  latter.  This  makes  the 
probable  7th  grade  enrolment  for  next  September  238  and  the  prob- 
able 8th  grade  enrolment  184.  Adding  these  to  632,  the  estimated 
probable  enrolment  of  grades  IX-XII,  we  have  for  the  probable  en- 
rolment in  grades  VII-XII  next  fall  a  total  of  954  pupils  which  is 
an  increase  of  177  over  the  777  now  enrolled  in  the  junior  and  senior 
high  school  grades.  Supt.  Eby's  estimate  based  on  reports  from  the 
teachers  as  to  probable  entrants  next  year  gives  943 — an  increase 
of  166.  I  regard  this  estimate  as  conservative.  For  many  reasons 
I  think  the  actual  increase  will  more  likely  exceed  it  than  fall  short 
of   it.     See   Table    7. 

We  now  have  the  emergency  problem  for  next  fall  clearly  before 
us.  How  can  177  additional  pupils  be  taken  care  of  next  fall  in  grades 
VII  to  XII  when  McKinley  High  School  building  and  the  Old  Central 
Building  are  already  being  utilizeed  to  the  full  extent  of  their  possible 
pupil  capacity,  and  with  seven  rooms  seating  48  more  pupils  than  the 
law  allows? 

2.     Plans  to  Meet  the  Emergency. 

To  accommodate  177  additional  pupils  on  the  present  plan  of 
operation  will  require  seven  rooms  (classrooms  or  shops  or  labora- 
tories) in  addition  to  those  now  in  use  in  both  buildings.  It  is  clear 
therefore  that  the  administration  must  either  provide  seven  new 
rooms  by  September  next,  or  change  the  plan  of  operation  and  pro- 
vide some  new  rooms. 

There  seems  to  be  four  and  only  four  plans  that  are  at  all  feasible, 
as  follows: 

Plan  I.  Provide  seven  modern  unit  movable  school  rooms  and 
place  them  on  the  McKinley  lot. 

Plan  II.  Bemodel  the  outdoor  gymnasium  at  the  rear  of  the 
McKinley  building,  making  a  machine  shop,  a  wood  shop  and  a  cafe- 
teria on  the  first  floor,  and  a  wood  shop,  a  drawing  and  art  room,  and 
a  print  shop  on  the  second  floor.  Each  of  these  rooms  might  have  floor 
area  of  40  or  45x24  feet,  and  this  would  leave  adequate  space  for 
hall  and  stairways  and  two  small  storage  rooms  over  the  hall.     Be- 

—  17— 


move  the  shops  at  the  Old  Central  building  to  this  new  shop  building 
and  reseat  the  old  shop  rooms.  This  will  provide  8  class  rooms 
instead  of  3  in  the  Old  Central  building.  House  the  entire  7th  grade 
in  these  rooms  and  grades  VIII-XII  at  Mckinley  High  school  building. 

Plan  III.  Organize  the  entire  school,  grades  VII-XII  into  two  or 
three  platoons.  Make  a  9-period  time  table  with  two  lunch  periods 
in  the  middle  of  the  day.  Arrange  the  time  schedule  so  that  not  more 
than  two-thirds  of  the  classes  shall  be  in  school  at  any  one  time. 
Build  the  new  shops  and  cafeteria  and  use  them.  Abandon  entirely 
the  Washington  or  Old  Central  building. 

Plan  IV.  Build  the  new  shops  and  cafeteria  as  in  Plans  II  and 
III  and  abandon  entirely  the  Washington  building.  Organize  and 
operate  the  school  on  the  "Work-Study-Play"  plan,  arranging  the 
schedule  so  that  half  the  school  shall  be  in  the  class  rooms  while 
the  other  half  is  distributed  about  equally  among  (1)  the  shops  and 
laboratories;  (2)  the  gymnasium,  study  rooms  and  playground,  and 
(3)  the  auditorium.  With  this  plan  it  will  be  necessary  to  provide 
two  additional  class  rooms  in  order  to  provide  for  the  balanced  or- 
ganization. This  can  be  done  by  dividing  the  large  room  number  9 
and  also  the  proposed  drawing  and  art  room  each  into  two  rooms  by 
means  of  temporary  partitions. 

3.     Discussion  of  the  Emergency  Plans. 

Plan  I  has  many  disadvantages.  In  the  first  place  movable  build- 
ings represent  only  a  temporary  expedient  to  meet  congestion,  but 
their  use  tends  to  become  a  habit;  and  it  is  a  very  bad  habit  when  it 
becomes  fixed.  When  resorted  to  it  seems  an  easy  way  of  putting  off 
the  only  permanent  solution,  namely  a  building  plan  and  policy, 
which  like  that  of  our  national  navy,  must  look  years  ahead  and  pro- 
vide for  a  continuous  state  of  preparedness  and  efficiency.  This  is 
the  only  way  to  prevent  disasters  and  make  wasteful  expedients  un- 
necessary. Resorting  to  portables  is  like  easing  pain  with  aspirin, 
which  makes  one  unconscious  of  disease  until  the  system  is  broken 
down  and  ruined  beyond  hope. 

In  the  second  place  portables  are  unpopular  with  the  parents  of 
the  children  who  have  to  occupy  them,  and  rightly  so;  because  they 
are  unhomelike,  are  not  capable  of  the  best  heating  and  ventilation, 
and  are  apt  to  be  so  crowded  on  the  school  lot  that  they  interfere 
seriously  with  one  another  in  securing  adequate  daylight.  Also  they 
fill  up  the  school  grounds  and  leave  little  or  no  playground  space  for 
the  pupils — thus  depriving  the  latter  of  a  part  of  the  birthright  of 
every  child.  In  the  third  place  portables  are  unprofitable  as  an  in- 
vestment, both  because  of  the  previously  stated  objections  and  be- 
cause they  are  relatively  expensive.  Six  of  these  movables  would  cost 
from  six  to  nine  thousand  dollars — a  sum  which  would  go  a  long  way 
toward  building  over  the  outdoor  gymnasium  into  a  very  good  shop 
building. 

My  judgment  is  strongly  against  the  portables  excepting  in  certain 
rare  cases  where  only  one  or  two  are  needed  for  a  short  time;  and 
I  therefore  advise  that  Plan  I  be  ruled  out. 

Plan  II  will  effectively  take  care  of  the  emergency  for  next  fall; 
but  is  open  to  serious  objections.  First,  it  involves  segregating  the 

—18— 


7th  grade  from  the  remainder  of  the  Junior  Higji  School.  This  will 
cause  serious  loss  of  esprit-de-corps,  will  increase  the  difficulties  of 
supervision,  and  will  seriously  interfere  with  the  features  of  depart- 
mental instruction  and  promotion  by  subjects,  which  are  essential 
to  the  best  working  of  a  junior  high  school  organization. 

It  also  involves  the  continued  use  of  the  Washington  building 
which  is  unfit  for  use  as  a  school  building  and  should  be  permanently 
abandoned  as  a  day  school  at  the  earliest  possible  date.  I  therefore 
advise  that  Plan  II  be  ruled  out.  This  leaves  the  choice  only  between 
Plan  III  and  Plan  IV. 

Plan  III  is  entirely  feasible;  and  will  work  fairly  well;  but  the 
platoon  system  is  not  capable  of  subserving  the  best  interest  of  the 
children.  It  shortens  their  time  in  school  and  leaves  them  too  much 
of  their  time  away  from  the  supervision  and  direction  of  their  teach- 
ers. Most  of  their  studying  must  be  done  out  of  school.  Now  it  is 
well  known  in  the  experience  of  school  men  that  children  when  out 
of  school  are  likely  to  be'  on  the  streets  more  than  at  home.  The 
parents  of  most  children  do  not  see  to  it  that  they  have  regular  hours 
of  home  duties,  study  and  harmless  and  profitable  play;  so  when  the 
children  are  out  of  school  during  a  larger  portion  of  the  day  than  is 
usual,  they  waste  much  of  their  time  and  contract  idle  or  mischievous 
habits. 

Furthermore  the  school  becomes  very  loosely  organized  when  at- 
tending in  platoons;  and  it  is  difficult  to  maintain  unity  of  school 
spirit  and  solidarity  of  purpose  among  both  students  and  teachers. 

Finally  the  platoon  system  tends  to  disorganize  the  family  life 
especially  when  children  in  the  same  family  attend  during  different 
hours. 

Plan  IV  Is  Recommended  for  Adoption. 

For  these  reasons  and  since  the  choice  is  now  narrowed  down  to 
that  between  Plan  III  and  Plan  IV,  I  am  inclined  to  advise  against 
Plan  III  and  in  favor  of  Plan  IV,  which  has  none  of  the  objections 
of  the  first  three  plans,  is  not  a  temporary  expedient,  but  a  well  tried 
plan  which  is  being  adopted  as  a  permanent  policy  in  many  progres- 
sive school  systems,  and  has  many  and  real  advantages  of  peculiar 
merit. 

The  "Work-Study-Play"  system  which  only  the  installation  of  the 
new  shop  rooms  will  make  possible,  is  therefore  recommended  for 
adoption. 


-19- 


CHAPTER  III. 
THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  BUILDING  PROGRAM 

I.      FORECASTING    THE    INCREASES    IN    ENROLMENT. 

In  order  to  know  definitely  how  many  buildings  Niles  will  need 
immediately  and  in  the  near  future,  to  house  both  the  present  excess 
of  children  and  the  increasing  numbers  who  are  coming  on,  we  should 
be  able  to  predict  how  many  more  children  there  will  be,  say,  in 
September  1925  than  there  are  now.  To  do  this  with  accuracy  would 
be  very  difficult,  if  not  impossible.  It  is  possible,  however,  to  make 
an  approximate  estimate  based  on  the  data  that  are  available.  This 
1  shall  try  to  do;  for  an  estimate  made  on  the  basis  of  any  reliable 
data,  even  though  meagre,  is  far  better  than  a  mere  guess  out  of  the 
blue  sky,  however  shrewd  the  guess  might  be.  In  Table  II,  we  have 
the  enrolments  for  all  grades  for  the  years  1915  and  1920,  as  follows: 

%  in- 
Enrolments  5  year      crease 

1915  1920  increase    5  years. 

Grades  I-VIII 1432  2210  778  54.3 

Grades  IX-XII 316  400  84  27.0 

The  distribution  of  these  enrolments  is  given  both  by  buildings 
and  by  grades  in  Table  II  and  are  summarized  in  Table  II-A. 

If  we  assume  that  these  rates  of  increase  in  the  various  grades  for 
the  past  five-year  period  will  continue  in  the  average  for  the  coming 
five-year  period,  we  can  estimate  the  increase  up  to  September  1925, 
by  taking  54%  of  2,210,  the  1920  enrolment  for  grades  I-VIII,  and 
adding  to  it  27%  of  the  1920  enrolment  of  grades  IX-XII.  The  result 
is  1,193  plus  108,  or  1,301  for  the  entire  city  and  all  grades. 

Of  course  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  the  school  population  will 
continue  to  grow  for  the  next  five  or  ten  years  at  exactly  the  same 
rate  at  which  it  has  increased  for  the  past  five  years.  The  rate  may 
gradually  diminish;  but  on  the  other  hand  it  may  increase.  This  rate 
of  growth  has  on  the  average  added  to  the  enrolment  260  pupils  per 
year.  The  increase  of  pupils  for  next  year  over  the  present  enrolment 
will  almost  certainly  exceed  300;  so  there  is  no  indication  in  the 
experience  of  the  past  or  present  that  should  lead  us  to  discount  this 
figure  in  forecasting  the  future. 

As    a   further    check    on    this    estimate,    however,    we    may    compare 
the    rate    of    increase    of    the    school    enrolment    with    the    rates    of    in- 

—20— 


crease  in  the  total  city  population  and  the  enumeration  of  youth 
of  school  age.  The  population  increased  during  the  past  ten  year 
period  56%,  an  average  rate  of  increase  of  5.6%  per  year.  The  enum- 
erated youth  increased  during  the  past  nine  years  32.6%,  an  average 
rate  of  3.6%  per  year.  Under  perfectly  normal  and  stable  conditions, 
the  school  enrolment  should  have  approximately  the  same  rate  of  in- 
crease as  the  total  population  and  as  that  of  the  enumerated  youth. 
That  is,  the  three  numbers  should  bear  a  constant  ratio  to  one 
another.  It  is  quite  clear  however,  that  for  one  cause  or  another 
they  have  not  done  this.  The  rate  of  increase  for  the  combined  ele- 
mentary and  high  school  enrolment  is  9.8%  per  year  or  nearly  twice 
that  for  the  population  and  more  than  twice  that  for  the  enumeration. 
There  may  therefore  be  considerable  ground  for  supposing  that 
our  estimated  average  increase  in  enrolment  of  260  pupils  per  year 
is  too  high;  but  in  my  opinion  it  is  unsafe  to  base  the  building  pro- 
gram on  a  lower  estimate.  We  cannotbe  sure  that  the  present  rate 
will  become  smaller;  and  there  are  as  many  reasons  for  conjectur- 
ing that  it  may  become  larger  as  there  are  for  thinking  that  it  may 
diminish. 

Hence  it  is  safer  to  accept  260  pupils  per  year  for  the  average 
rate  at  which  the  enrolment  will  increase  than  it  would  be  to  base 
the  building  program  on  either  a  smaller  or  a  larger  rate.  In  my 
opinion  this  rate  is  sufficiently  conservative;  and  the  adoption  of  a 
smaller  one  might  lead  to  unwise  expenditure  by  investing  large 
sums  in  buildings  likely  to  prove  themselves  inefficient  by  reason 
of  being  too  small,  on  the  other  hand,  the  erection  of  too  large 
a  building  would  involve  waste  also,  altho  this  waste  would  last 
only  while  the  population  was  growing  up  to  the  building.  The 
erection  of  buildings  in  small  units  would  interfere  with  a  pro- 
gressive development  of  the  educational  program  in  a  manner  much 
more  serious  than  any  but  an  an  expert  in  school  administration  is 
likely  to  foresee.  The  administration  is  even  now  finding  itself 
handicapped  in  operating  the  schools  on  modern  principles  because 
the  small  buildings  necessitate  handling  the  children  in  small 
groups.  It  is  difficult,  for  an  example,  to  introduce  the  feature  of 
semi-annual  promotions,  and  the  feature  of  grouping  pupils  accord- 
ing to   ability    instead    of   according   to    age    or    to   years    in    school. 

The  use  of  small  buildings  also  involves  ultimately  a  large  waste 
of  funds  by  failure  to  take  advantage  of  the  greater  economy  that 
results  from  the  use  of  large  buildings.  Hence,  from  the  standpoint* 
of  both  efficiency,  in  the  educational  program,  and  of  ultimate 
economy  of  expenditure  in  the  building  program  the  policy  of  build- 
ing in   larger  units  should   prevail. 

One  reason  why  we  may  very  well  expect  a  larger  rate  of  in- 
crease in  enrolment  than  a  smaller  is  worthy  of  specific  mention 
here.  The  losses  by  reason  of  pupils  leaving  school  before  completing 
the  curriculum  are  decreasing.  In  the  High  School  especially,  the 
success  of  the  administrative  and  teaching  staff  in  holding  the  pupils 
longer  in  school  has  been  remarkable.  This  success  has  been  due 
to  definite,  united,  and  effective  effort  with  this  end  in  view,  an 
effort  and  a  policy  for  which  great  credit  should  be  given  to  the 
superintendent,  the  high  school  principal,  and  the  teaching  staff. 
The  effect  of  this  policy  will  be  increas»ed  by  'he  use  of  larger, 
more  commodious  and  more  attractive  modern  building  units  includ- 
ing auditoriums,  libraries,  laboratories  and  adequate  play-grounds 
and  gymnasiums.  The  important  modern  facilities  can  be  incor- 
porated in  large  buildings  with  relatively  small  additional  expense; 
but  their  cost  when  duplicated  in  many  small  buildings  is  likely  to 
become  prohibitive,  so  that  most  of  the  pupils  in  the  city  will  be 
deprived  of  thrm.  Furthermore,  experience  in  many  other  com- 
munities has  proved  that  when  new  and  attractive  buildings  are 
installed,  with  modern  courses  of  study  including  vocational  and 
pre-vocational  studies,  such  buildings  always  fill  up  and  become 
crowded  much  more  promptly  than  was  expected.  The  reasons  for 
this    are    two:    First,    pupils    of    the    community    are    attracted    into    the 

—21— 


schools,  who  otherwise  would  not  come,  and  second,  people  with 
families  of  children  to  be  educated  are  attracted  to  the  city  by  its 
superior  educational  advantages,  and  move  in  from  other  communities. 
Such  people  eonstitute  a  valuable  asset  to  any  eity  because  of  their 
superior  intelligence,  ambition,  and  industry. 

With  these  considerations  in  view,  I  have  worked  out  the  building 
program  which  I  shall  recommend  on  the  basis  of  expectation  of  an 
average  yearly  increase  of  260  in  the  enrolment;  and  have  so  planned 
as  to  make  liberal  allowance  for  a  possible  increase  in  this  rate,  as 
well  as  for  a  possible  shrinkage. 

II.      CALCULATING   THE   ADDITIONAL    PUPIL   CAPACITY    REQUIRED. 

The  analysis  and  calculation  based  on  the  data  set  forth  in  Tables 
I,  II  and  II-A,  show  that  there  is  a  net  excess  pupils  over  the  pupil 
capacity  of  the  present  buildings  of  339  pupils,  (See  Table  III,  Column 
0,  7.)  This  is  the  result  arrived  at  on  the  assumption  that  all  rooms 
not  fit  for  use  according  to  state  building  standards  are  to  be 
abandoned  as  soon  as  this  is  feasible.  The  pupil  capacity  thus  elim- 
inated would  amount  to  339  pupils.     (See  Table  III,  Column  3.) 

The  increase  in  enrolment,  calculated  on  the  basis  of  the  data  set 
forth  in  Tables  I  and  II,  will,  by  September  of  the  year  1925,  amount 
to  1,301  pupils.  The  only  element  of  doubt  in  this  estimate  is  that 
which  arises  from  assuming  547r  and  27r/r  as  the  average  rates  of 
increase  in  enrolments  for  the  elementary  and  high  school  grades 
respectively.  The  grounds  for  adopting  these  rates  have  been  fully 
examined  above.  If  these  rates  be  accepted;  and  if  it  be  admitted  that 
the  unfit  rooms  are  to  be  abandoned,  our  building  arrangements  must 
provide  capacity  for  339  plus  1302=1640  pupils. 

The  Roosevelt  building,  now  nearing  completion,  and  the  Garfield 
addition,  for  which  plans  have  been  accepted,  will  provide  standard 
accommodations  for  306  and  228  pupils  respectively,  or  an  aggregate 
of  534.  Subtracting  this  number  from  1640,  the  excess  just  stated,  we 
have  a  net  prospective  excess  of  pupils  over  capacity  of  1106  pupils, 
which  is  the  number  that  the  building  program  to  be  recommended 
must  provide  for.  At  an  average  of  40  pupils  to  the  room,  this  would 
take  28  new  rooms.  At  an  average  of  35  pupils  per  room,  which 
would  be  a  better  basis  from  the  educational  standpoint,  because 
junior  and  senior  high  school  classes  must  be  smaller  than  classes  in 
grades  I -VI,  the  number  of  new  rooms  to  be  provided  would  be  32. 
(For  detailed  analysis  see  Table  III.) 

The  next  step  in  the  building  problem  is  to  find  out  where  the 
new  rooms  should  be  located. 

III.      DETERMINING   WHERE    TO    PLACE    NEW    BUILDING   UNITS. 

In  solving  this  part  of  the  problem,  the  pin-maps  mentioned  early 
in  this  report  supplied  the  only  available  data;  but  fortunately  the 
inferences  to  be  drawn  from  these  maps  are  quite  clear. 

A  count  was  made  on  the  map  for  each  school,  of  the  pins  in  each 
of  the  various  sections  of  the  city.  The  result  of  this  count  is  shown 
m  Table  IV,  in  which  each  horizontal  line  represents  a  school  named 
at  the  left,  and  each  vertical  column  represents  one  of  the  distinct 
geographical  sections  of  the  city,  as  follows: 

1-A.  The  section  to  the  west  of  Mosquito  Creek  and  north  of  the 
Erie  and  B.  &  O.  R.  R.  tracks. 

—22— 


1-B.  The  section  to  the  west  of  Mosquito  Creek  and  south  of  the 
Erie  and  B.  &  0.  R.  R.  tracks. 

2-A.  The  section  to  the  east  of  Mosquito  Creek  and  to  the  west  of 
Vienna  Avenue. 

2-B.  The  section  to  the  east  of  Vienna  Avenue  and  north  of 
Robbins  Avenue. 

3.  The  section. to  the  north  and  east  of  the  Erie  and  B.  &  O.  R.  R. 
tracks  and  south  of  Robbins  Avenue. 

4.  "Loop."  The  section  to  the  east  of  Mosquito  Creek,  lying  to  the 
south  of  the  Erie  and  B.  &  0.  R.  R.  tracks  and  to  the  north  of  the 
Mahoning  River. 

5.  The  section  to  the  south  of  the  Mahoning  river. 

From  the  figures  in  Table  IV.  it  may  be  seen  how  many  pupils 
now  attending  any  one  school  live  in  each  of  these  sections  of  the  city. 

The  following  tabulation  summarizes  these  figures,  and  shows  the 
number  of  pupils  from  the  eastern  sections  (including  one-half  the 
"loop"  section — who  are  enrolled  in  senior  high  school  (Column  2), 
in  junior  high  school  (Column  3),  and  in  all  the  schools  (Column  4). 

GEOGRAPHICAL   DISTRIBUTION   OF  PUPILS  IN  THE 

CITY  OF  NILES  1920-1921 

1  2  3  4 

School  Senior    Junior        All 

High        High     Schools 
Section  of  the  city  School     School     United 

2-A  40  49  185 

2-B   110  92  541 

3       20  49  439 

Harrison 8  140 

Loop    (y2)    2  24  162 

Grant     ___  170 

Totals— Eastern   sections    172  222  1547 

Total  in  each  school  group 327  393  2549 

Percent  those  living  in   eastern   sections   are 

of  entire  school  groups    52.6  56  5  60.7 

Thus  of  the  327  senior  hi^h  school  pupils  who  registered  on  the 
pin-map,  172  or  52.6%  live  east  of  Mosquito  Creek,  excluding  the  east- 
ern half  of  the  "loop"  section.  Similarly  it  is  revealed  that  56.5%  of 
the  junior  high  school  pupils  and  60.7%  of  all  the  pupils  in  all  the 
schools  live  east  of  Mosquito  Creek  exclusive  of  the  western  half  of 
the  loop  section.  The  western  half  of  this  latter  section,  the  whole  of 
which  is  cut  off  from  the  remainder  of  the  city  by  the  railroad  tracks, 
has  been  grouped  with  the  sections  to  the  west  of  Mosquito  Creek 
because  this  portion  of  the  loop  section  is  more  accessible  to  the 
western  division  of  the  city  than  to  the  eastern  division. 

The  pin  map  registration  checks  very  closely  with  the  enrolment 
figures  for  all  the  schools  excepting  the  senior  high  school,  where 
complete  registration  was  not  secured.  There  will  result  from  this 
no  error  of  serious  proportions,  however,  if  we  assumed  that  the 
52.6%  of  those  who  did  register  on  the  map  and  who  live  in  the 
eastern  sections  are  typical  of  the  entire  enrolment.  That  is,  we 
may  safely  assume  that  if  the  pin  map  registration  of  the  senior 
high  school  were  complete,  we  should  still  find  that  53%  or  more 
reside    east    of    Mosquito    Crctek. 

—23— 


From  the  character  of  the  homes  recently  erected  and  now  build- 
ing, and  from  the  character  of  the  allotments  being  placed  on  the 
homesite  market,  it  seems  quite  evident  that  the  prevailing  tendency 
of  the  well-to-do  and  middle-class  citizens,  the  sort  of  people  who  are 
accustomed  to  sending  their  children  to  the  high  school — are  gravi- 
tating toward  this  eastern  section  in  greater  proportion  than  toward 
the  other  sections.  It  seems  probable  therefore,  that  within  five  years 
the  percentage  of  the  high  school  enrolment  from  this  section  will 
rise  and  overtake  that  of  all  the  grades  taken  collectively.  That  is, 
we  may  fairly  expect  that  from  60  to  70  per  cent  of  the  excess  enrol- 
ment of  all  grades  by  1925-6,  or  about  two-thirds,  will  reside  in  the 
eastern  section  of  the  city.  Getting  down  to  figures,  our  estimated 
excess  in  enrolment  over  present  accommodations  was  1,640  pupils; 
and  approximately  two-thirds  of  these,  or  1,093  will  reside  in  the 
eastenn  sections  and  the  remaining  one-third  or  547,  will  reside  in 
the  western  sections. 

It  will  be  recalled  that  Roosevelt  and  the  Garfield  addition  will 
take  care  of  534  pupils,  while  for  the  remainder  of  the  excess,  namely 
1,106  pupils,  no  buildings  are  as  yet  either  erected  or  planned. 

In  other  words,  the  estimated  excess  for  the  year  1925  on  the  west 
side  is  546  pupils,  and  of  these  by  a  fortunate  coincidence,  534  will  be 
provided  with  accommodations  in  rooms  already  built  or  planned. 
On  the  other  hand,  1,093  pupils,  according  to  our  estimate,  will  reside 
on  the  east  side;  and  for  these  as  yet  no  rooms  are  even  projected. 
Our  building  program  therefore  must  provide  for  approximately  1,100 
pupils  by  1925,  and  the  rooms  for  their  accommodation  must  be 
located  to  the  east  of  Mosquito  Creek. 

IV.      DETERMINING    CAPACITY.    LOCATION,    AND    CHARACTER    OF 
THE    BUILDING    UNITS   IMMEDIATELY    REQUIRED. 

Our  estimated  east  side  enrolment  for  1925  shows  us  that  by  that 
time  we  should  have  school  housing  accommodations  on  the  east  side 
for  1,100  pupils;  and  the  foregoing  discussion  brings  us  to  the  con- 
clusion that  one  large  building  unit  will  be  much  more  economical 
in  the  end  and  also  vastly  more  efficient  educationally  than  two  or 
three  smaller  units  would  be. 

Let  us  now  make  an  estimate  as  to  how  fast  one  large  building 
will  fill  up. 

The  present  excess  over  legal  standard  capacity  is  339  pupils, 
according  to  the  indications  of  the  pin-map  study;  two-thirds  of  these, 
or  226,  should  attend  school  on  the  east  side.  Also  the  average  in- 
crease of  the  total  enrolment  was  estimated  at  260  pupils  per  year 
and  two-thirds  of  these,  174,  should  attend  school  on  the  east  side. 
We  have  then  the  following  table  for  the  probable  east  side  enrol- 
ments up  to  1925. 

Date  Excess 

September   1921  226 

September  1922 400 

September   1923 574 

September   1924  748 

September  1925 922 

—24- 


Total  capacity 

Increase 

required 

+ 

174 

=            400 

+ 

174 

=            574 

+ 

174 

=            748 

+ 

174 

=            922 

+ 

174 

=          1096 

According  to  this  estimate,  it  is  clear  that  if  a  small  building 
were  erected  it  would  be  tilled  up  by  September  1922;  and  another 
small  building  would  be  in  immediate  demand  to  prevent  over- 
crowding. On  the  other  hand,  if  a  building  to  accommodate  a 
thousand  to  twelve  hundred  pupils  be  erected  it  will  be  filled  to 
half  its  capacity  in  1922  and  to  three-fourths  of  its  capacity  in 
1923.  By  1925  it  will  be  fdled  to  capacity  and  another  building 
must  then  be  under  way.  As  this  building  cannot  be  ready  before 
September  1922,  the  loss  in  interest  on  the  capital  invested  by 
reason  of  the  space  temporarily  not  used  will  not  be  serious,  and 
will  be  practically  non-existent  in  two  years  after  the  completion 
of  the  building.  There  seem  therefore  to  be  scarcely  any  arguments 
in  favor  of  small  buildings  and  very  many  in  favor  of  the  immedi- 
ate projection  of  a  large  building.  If  the  large  building  be  accepted 
as  the  choice  of  the  city  and  the  Board  of  Education,  it  is  evident 
also  that  it  must  provide  for  the  junior  high  school  grades,  namely 
VII,  VIII  and  IX,  as  well  as  for  the  first  six  grades.  In  other 
words,  the  building  must  be  of  such  a  character  that  it  may  provide 
for  a  complete  nine-grade  school,  rather  than  for  either  an  ex- 
clusive junior  high  school  or  an  exclusive  six-grade  elementary 
school. 

I  therefore  recommend,  that  the  first  step  in  the  building  program 
be  the  erection  of  a  nine-grade  schoolhouse  with  all  modern  feat- 
ures; and  I  further  recommend  that  this  building  be  so  planned  that 
later  on  it  ay  include  a  senior  high  school  with  grades  X,  XI  and 
XII.  When  this  is  done,  of  course,  the  capacity  required  for  the 
senior  high  school  must  be  formed  by  excluding  a  sufficient  number 
of  elementary  grade  pupils  and  providing  space  for  the  latter  in 
other  buildings.  The  plans,  therefore,  should  be  made  with  this 
prospective   change   in  view. 

This  building  should  be  located  not  less  than  two  miles  nor 
more  than  two  and  a  half  miles  from  McK>nley  High  School.  It 
should  be  near  enough  to  Bobbins  Avenue  to  be  convenient  to  the 
car  line,  especially  in  bad  weather,  and  far  enough  removed  from 
it  to  avoid  the  noise  and  dust  of  the  street  traffic.  . 

V.      UNITS    THAT    WIL.L    BE    NEEDED    LATER. 

1.     The  East  Side. 

The  building  already  recommended  which,  for  the  sake  of 
brevity,  we  may  call  number  11,  will  meet  the  requirements  of  the 
east  side  for  the  elementary  and  junior  high  school  grades  until 
1925,  the  senior  high  school  pupils,  grades  X-XII,  from  this  section 
should  continue  at  McKinley,  where  there  will  be  room  for  them 
on  account  of  the  withdrawal  from  this  building  of  all  junior  high 
school  pupils  from  the  east  side.  When  McKinley  again  becomes 
crowded  the  east  side  senior  high  school  pupils  may  be  transferred 
to  number  11. 

Probably  some  time  between  1925  and  1927  number  11  will  be 
filled,  and  an  elementary  building  for  the  first  six  or  the  first  nine 
grades  will  be  required  to  be  placed  in  section  2-B  to  the  north 
and  east  of  Lincoln  school  and  to  the  north  and  west  of  number 
11.     The   next    step   in    the   development    on    the    east    side    will    be 

—25- 


necessitated  by  the  growth  eastward  of  section  3.  This  step  will 
be  an  addition  to  the  Jefferson  building  where  there  is  sufficient 
land  and  where  the  plan  of.  the  present  building  admits  of  an  addi- 
tion that  can  be  so  planned  as  to  convert  this  into  a  modern  school 
plant  with  accommodations  for  twice  or  possibly  nearly  three  times 
the  number  of  pupils  that  is  now  housed  there. 

This  building  which  I  shall  call  the  Jefferson  addition,  should 
not  be  needed  before  1935  unless  it  turns  out  that  in  section  3  the 
school  population  grows  much  faster  than  in  section  2-B.  In  that 
case  the  Jefferson  addition  and  our  number  13  would  have  to 
change  places  in  the  building  program.  This  completes  the  building 
program  for  the  east  side  as  far  as  it  is  either  possible  or  neces- 
sary to  outline  it.     Let  us  now  direct  our  attention  to  the  west  side. 

2.     The  West  Side. 

Roosevelt  building  will  provide  for  all  the  children  who  reside 
in  Section  1-A  for  ten  cr  fifteen  years  to  come,  provided  that  pupils 
from  other  sections  are  removed  from  it  to  keep  pace  with  the 
growth  of  enrolment  from  pupils  living  in  that  section.  Its  capacity 
can  be  doubled  by  an  addition  when  this  becomes  necessary. 

Garfield  building  with  its  projected  addition  will  take  care  of 
the  growth  in  enrolment  in  Grades  I-VI  of  Section  4,  at  the  present 
rate  of  increase  for  those  grades  until  1931,  provided  as  in  the 
case  of  Roosevelt,  the  pupils  from  other  sections  are  removed  from 
this  building  according  as  the  school  population  in  Section  4  increases. 

This  leaves  of  the  west  side  only  Section  1-B  to  consider.  The 
present  enrolment  of  pupils  in  Grades  I-VI  residing  in  this  section 
is  258,  while  the  only  elementary  building  in  the  section  is  Jackson, 
with  a  legal  standard  capacity  of  3G9. 

Assuming  that  for  the  immediate  future  the  excess  of  pupils  in 
the  loop  section  over  the  capacity  of  Monroe  building  will  be 
divided  about  equally  between  the  east  side  and  the  west  side  sec- 
tions and  that  the  elementary  grade  now  in  the  Washington  build- 
ing must  also  be  included  in  Section  1-B.  W7e  have  the  following 
statement  for  the  balance  of  pupils  against  accommodations  in  this 
section. 


Pin-map 

Pupils  who 

Section 

Standard 

Registration 

can  be 

Building 

City 

Capacity 

Grades  I-VI 

accommodated 

Jackson 

Scattered 

Washington 

Monroe 

Scattered 

1  B 
1  B 
1  B 

"Loop" 
"Loop"  (%) 

369 
180 

258 
37 

136 

431 

Excess  1  B  &  y2Loop         —  ___  118 

Total  1  B  &  V2Loop        549  ___  549 

It  thus  appears  that  there  are  accommodations  to  Grades  I-VI 
for  118  more  pupils  in  Monroe  and  Jackson,  belonging  than  there 
are  pupils  so  located  in  the  city  that  they  should  attend  school  in 
Section  1-B.  The  forecast  for  increased  enrolment  in  this  section, 
like  that  for  the  others,  is  based  on  the  percentage  increase  of  the 

—26— 


first  six  grades  during  the  past  five  years.  This  we  found,  in  Table 
II-A  to  be  57%.  The  combined  enrolments  include  431  pupils.  The 
probable  increase  for  the  next  five-year  period  is  577r  of  431=247, 
an  average  of  1-5  of  247  or  49  pupils  per  year. 

On  this  basis  the  enrolments  for  the  successive  years  should  be 
approximately  as  follows: 

1921   431+49=480  1926  676+49=725 

1922 480+49=529  1927  725+49=774 

1923  529+49=578  1928  774+49=823 

1924  578+49=627  1929  823+49=872 

1925  627+49=676  1930  872+49=921 

From  this  it  seems  that  the  enrolment  will  not  exceed  the 
capacity  in  this  section  before  1923;  and  it  is  probable  that  by 
placing  in  the  Roosevelt  and  Garfield  buildings  pupils  from  this 
section  who  live  near  those  buildings,  overcrowding  in  Jackson 
building  can  be  avoided  until  about  1924  or  1925.  It  will  then  be 
necessary, — especially  if  that  section  continues  to  grow  as  would 
seem  likely — to  plan  for  a  new  building  for  a  nine-grade  school  in 
Section  1-B. 

By  1930  we  should  expect  the  enrolment  of  this  section  in 
Grades  I-VI  to  reach  921.  On  the  basis  of  the  rate  at  which  they 
are  now  growing,  the  junior  high  school  grades  VII-IX,  should  have 
increased  about  350,  1-3  of  which  increase  or  116  would  belong  in 
this  section.  Adding  116  to  921  we  have  a  total  of  1,037  pupils  or 
488  more  than  the  capacity  of  Jackson   and  Monroe. 

If  these  figures  indicate  approximately  the  actual  conditions  of 
ten  years  hence,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  new  west  side  building 
hould  be  ready  about  1925  and  if  planned  for  500  pupils  it  would 
be  filled  up  by  1931.  Hence,  if  by  1924  the  growth  of  the  school 
enrolments  goes  along  substantially  as  is  indicated  above,  it  clearly 
would  be  cood  policy  at  that  time  to  plan  a  building  for  750  pupils, 
which  would  not  fill  up  until  1935.  The  building  might  be  so 
planned  as  to  be  erected  in  three  successive  sections. 

This  building  should  be  located  about  a  mile  or  a  mile  and  a 
half  west  of  the  Jackson  building  and  near,  but  not  on  Warren 
Avenue.    For  convenience  of  reference  I  shall  call  it  number  12. 

VI.      SUMMARY    OF    THE    BUILDING    PROGRAM. 

In  view  of  the  facts  and  inferences  which  have  been  set  forth 
in  detail,  the  various  steps  in  the  building  program  which  is  recom- 
mended are  as  follows: 

Step  1.  Proceed  immediately  to  plan  for  the  financing  and 
erection  on  the  east  side  of  schoolhouse  number  11,  a  modern  plant 
for  a  nine-grade  school,  capable  of  being  used  ultimately  for  a 
twelve-grade  school  and  having  a  maximum  capacity  of  1,200  pupils. 

Step  2.  About  1924,  plan  for  the  financing  and  erection  of 
schoolhouse  number  12,  a  nine-grade  building  having  a  maximum 
capacity  of  750  pupils. 

Step  3.  About  1937,  if  the  growth  of  the  northern  section  of 
the  east  side  indicates  the  need  of  additional  accommodations  plan 
for  the  financing  and  erection  of  a  six  or  nine-grade,  up-to-date 
schoolhouse, — number  13  in  that  section  to  the  north  and  east  of 
the  Lincoln  building. 

—27— 


Step  4.  About  1934,  if  the  demand  has  become  evident,  plan  for 
the  erection  and  financing  of  the  Jefferson  addition  converting  this 
building  into  an  up-to-date  plant  for  nine  grades.  It  may  turn  out 
that  steps  3  and  4  will  have  to  change  places. 

With  regard  to  the  "Loop"  section  of  the  city,  on  account  of  its 
peculiar  character  and  location,  no  predictions  of  any  value  can  be 
made.  For  this  district  a  watchful  waiting  policy  should  be 
adopted,  which  will  be  outlined  and  explained  in  a  later  section. 

In  the  meantime  all  buildings  and  grounds  should  be  put  in 
perfect  repair  and  maintained  in  the  best  possible  condition. 


—28— 


CHAPTER  IV. 
BUILDINGS    AND    BUILDING   SITES 

I.      THE   PROPOSED    EAST    SIDE   BUILDING,    NO.    11. 

With  reference  to  this  building,  the  policy  recommended  in 
Chapter  III  is  to  plan  it  for  a  modern  fireproof  nine-grade  school. 
That  is  to  say  a  school  comprising  a  six-grade  elementary  organi- 
zation and  a  junior  high  school  organization  including  Grades  VII, 
VIII  and  IX. 

Furthermore  if  properly  planned,  and  honestly  constructed  ac- 
cording to  the  best  manner  known  to  modern  architectural 
engineering,  this  structure  ought  to  last  for  a  hundred  years  or 
more.  In  fact,  if  kept  always  in  prime  repair  it  is  difficult  to 
imagine  any  reason  why  it  should  not  endure  for  several  centuries, 
like  the  college  buildings,  cathedrals  and  palaces  of  the  old  world. 

This  being  the  case,  we  should  not  limit  our  vision  of  the  future 
to  five  or  ten  years,  but  should  consider  the  probable  relations  of 
this  building  to  the  school  system  at  a  time  twenty,  thirty  or  forty 
years  hence. 

It  is  the  lack  of  such  prophetic  vision  in  the  past  that  has 
placed  so  many  of  our  cities  in  the  sad  predicament  in  which  they 
now  find  themselves.  One  eastern  city,  for  example,  must  imme- 
diately scrap  every  elementary  building  that  it  owns,  and  build 
new;  because  these  buildings  were  erected  according-  to  a  hand-to- 
mouth  policy  which  failed  utterly  to  take  future  needs  into  consid- 
eration. 

With  the  ultimate  needs  of  Niles  in  mind,  therefor,  it  must  be 
evident  that  if  her  growth  continues  as  her  business  men  think  it 
will,  and  as  all  indications  foreshadow,  there  is  going  to  be  need  of 
an  east  side  senior  high  school  with  other  east  side  junior  high 
schools  tributary  to  it. 

This  building,  Number  11,  which  is  needed  now  for  elementary 
and  junior  high  school  building  in  the  location  that  I  have  desig- 
nated, will  be  needed  some  time  between  fifteen  and  thirty  years 
hence  to  house  a  senior  high  school.  Nobody  at  this  time  can 
predict  just  WHEN  it  will  be  so  needed;  but  no  intelligent  person 
who  has  faith  in  Niles  and  her  future  prospects  of  growth  and 
prosperity  can  doubt  for  a  moment  that  a  part,  if  not  all,  of  it  WILL 
be  needed  for  that  very  purpose.     We  must  view  this  building  as  a 

—29— 


permanent    investment    for    Niles,    and    not    as    an    item    of    current 
expense. 

If  this  be  granted,  it  is  evident  that  tens  of  thousands  of  dollars 
can  be  saved  for  the  children  of  Niles,  who  will  be  the  tax  payers 
fifteen  or  thirty  years  hence,  by  planning  this  building  so  that  it 
can  be  used  to  house  this  prospective  senior  high  school  organiza- 
tion when  it  materializes.  AJ1  that  is  necessary  to  accomplish  this 
is  to  provide  in  the  plans,  rooms  properly  designed  and  located  for 
such  additional  shops,  laboratories  and  other  special  rooms  as  are 
characteristic  of  a  modern  comprehensive  high  school.  These 
rooms  can  easily  be  planned  so  as  to  be  added  on,  when  needed, 
as  rearward  extensions  of  the   two  wings   of  the  building. 

1.     The    Architectural    Problem. 

The  general  problem  of  designing  the  building  is  now  clearly 
before  us.     The  following  provisions  are  essential: 

a.  Space  for  a  maximum  of  1,200  children. 

b.  Design  and  allotment  of  rooms  of  the  proper  size,  character 
and  location  for  the  activities  of  an  organization  consisting 
of  six  elementary  grades  and  three  junior  high  school  grades. 

c.  The  plans  to  be  so  made  that  10-18  additional  units  (shops, 
laboratories  and  demonstration  rooms,  senior  high  school 
science  and  vocational  work)  may  be  built  on  at  the  rear 
of  the  two  wings  at  a  later  time  when  they  will  be  de- 
manded. 

d.  The  exterior  of  the  building  should  be  adapted  to  the 
needs  of  the  interior  and  not  vice  versa.  The  design 
should  not  be  extravagant  and  ornate,  but  both  simple  and 
artistic,  becoming  a  manufacturing  city  with  practical  but 
artistic  ideals. 

e.  The  grounds  should  be  ample  for  play,  athletics  and  school 
gardening;  and  that  part  of  them  immediately  adjacent  to 
the  building  should  be  landscaped  and  decorated  with  lawn, 
trees  and  shrobbery,  according  to  the  best  artistic  standards 
so  that  the  school  and  school  grounds  may  be  a  source  of 
pride  and  satisfaction  as  well  as  a  means  of  artistic  educa- 
tion both  to  the  children  in  attendance,  and  to  the  citizens 
of  the  community. 

These  requisites  are  not  difficult  of  attainment;  but  will  require 
the  service  of  an  architect  who,  by  reason  of  long  and  varied 
experience  in  designing  modern  school  plants,  is  familiar  with  the 
needs  of  modern  balanced  school  organizations.  They  will  also 
demand  generous  and  enlightened,  but  not  extravagant  financing. 

2.     What   the   Plans   Should   Include. 

The  following  outline  shows  the  essential  elements  of  the  plan. 


-30- 


Essential  Units  of  Plan  for  Building  No.  11. 

Pupil         Capacity 


Number  and  Kinds  of  Rooms 
16  Classrooms    


Capacity    by  Croups 


2  Gymnasiums    

2  Study  halls  and  library 


3  Laboratories    

3  Shops    

1  Mechanical  drawing  room  _. 

2  Commercial  rooms   

1  Art   room   

1  Music    room    

1  Auditorium    

1  Cafeteria  and  1  lunch  room 


625 

625 

80 

240 

320 

75 

75 

25 

50 

25_40 

25_40 

275-320 

800 

800 

400 

400 

Approximate  Total  Capacity  as  a  Nine  Grade  School. 

On  the  traditional  plan  of  operation 750 

On  the  work-study-play  plan  of  operation 1250 

Additional  Units  to  be   Planned  for  Senior  High  School 
But  Not  to  be  Built. 

Laboratories,    Physics,    Chemistry,    Geography,    Biology, 

Dressmaking,  Millinery  6  units 

Recitation  Rooms  supplementary  to  Laboratories 2  units 

Shops  8-10  units 

3.    Description  of  the  Types  of  Rooms. 

1.  The  Classrooms.  The  16  classrooms  will  provide  two  rooms 
for  each  of  the  first  six  elementary  grades,  three  rooms  for  the 
three  junior  high  school  grades  and  one  room  for  a  kindergarten. 
Each  classroom  should  have  a  capacity  of  approximately  8,000  cubic 
feet,  and  a  floor  surface  of  approximately  640  square  feet.  Accord- 
ing to  the  requirements  of  the  Ohio  Statutes,  this  space  would 
accommodate  40  pupils  of  the  first  four  grades,  35  pupils  of  Grades 
Y-VIII,  or  32  pupils  of  Grades  IX-XII. 

If,  the  administration  policy  should  be  to  handle  the  children 
in  larger  classrooms,  say  of  45  instead  of  40  in  Grades  I-IV,  the 
classroom  unit  should  be  9,000  cubic  feet  instead  of  8,000.  Such  a 
policy  would  economize  in  teaching  force;  but  with  a  corresponding 
reduction  in  educational  efficiency. 

2.  The  Gymnasiums.  These  should  have  a  combined  floor  space 
60  x  80  feet  or  4,800  square  feet,  and  should  consist  of  a  single 
room  divided  at  the  middle  of  the  long  axis  by  a  rolling  partition, 
so  that  one-half  can  be  used  exclusively  for  girls  and  the  other 
exclusively  for  boys  at  the  same  time.  For  exhibition  and  contest 
purposes  the  two  can  be  thrown  together.  There  should  be  a 
continuous  gallery  with  a  padded  running  track,  and  raised  seats 
for  spectators.  There  should  of  course  be  separate  showers,  locker 
rooms  and  toilets  for  the  boys  and  the  girls  adjoining  the  opposite 
ends,  and  also  a  swimming  pool  to  be  used  at  different  times 
during   the   week    by    the    boys    and    the    girls    respectively    and    on 


—31- 


different  evenings  during  the  week  by  the  men  and  women  of  the 
community. 

3.  Study  halls  and  library.  These  should  occupy  a  central 
position  in  the  building.  Each  room  should  comprise  two  units  of 
capacity,  or  about  18,000  cubic  feet.  The  library  should  occupy  the 
middle  position,  and  the  two  study  halls  should  open  into  the 
library  as  well  as  into  the  corridor.  Each  room  would  accommo- 
date 80  pupils.  In  the  interest  of  flexibility  of  use  and  adaptation 
to  unforeseen  conditions,  it  would  be  very  desirable  so  to  design 
the  two  study  halls  that  each  can  be  divided  in  halves  by  means  of 
a  rolling  partition  in  order  that  it  may  at  any  time  be  converted 
into  two  classrooms. 

4.  The  Laboratories.  These  should  include  a  nature  study  lab- 
oratory with  a  plant  conservatory  and  garden  plot  adjoining  out- 
side, a  cooking  laboratory  with  the  store  room  and  laundry  room 
adjoining,  and  a  sewing  laboratory  with  a  fitting  room  adjoining. 
Each  should  be  designed  and  equipped  to  accommodate  a  minimum 
of  25  pupils  with  some  provision  for  expansion  of  equipment  in 
case  the  need  should  arise. 

5.  The  Shops.  These  should  include  a  wood-working  shop  with 
stockroom  and  wood-working  machine  room  adjoining,  and  arts 
and  crafts  shop  with  adjoining  stock  room,  and  a  print  shop  with 
a  small  adjoining  room  which  could  be  used  as  a  designing  or 
general  utility  room,  and  later  perhaps  converted  into  a  room 
for  photo-engraving  and  lithographing. 

6.  The  Mechanical  Drawing  room.  The  mechanical  drawing 
room  should  be  near  the  wood  shop,  and  the  art  room  near  the 
arts  and  crafts  and  print  shops.  Each  of  these  rooms  should  be 
equipped  for  a  minimum  of  25  pupils. 

7.  The  Commercial  rooms.  These  should  be  adjoining  with  a 
commercial  teacher's  office  between.  The  partitions  between  this 
office  and  the  two  rooms  respectively  should  be  of  glass,  so  that 
the  teacher  may  readily  oversee  the  pupils  in  either  room  while 
he  is  in  the  office.  One  of  these  rooms  should  be  equipped  for 
book-keeping  and   office  training  and  the  other  for  typing. 

8.  The  Art  room.  This  should  be  artistically  decorated,  and 
equipped  with  drawing  tables  for  25  pupils.  It  should  be  large 
enough  to  permit  the  addition  later  of  ten  or  fifteen  more  individual 
tables.  There  should  be  ample  banks  of  lockers  and  drawing  board 
racks,  and  cabinets  for  safe  keeping  of  the  pupils'  drawing  and 
co'or  materials.  There  should  be  portfolio  cabinets  and  dispioy 
racks  for  keeping  and  displaying  work  done  by  the  pupils,  and  a 
slock  room  for  the  safe  keeping  of  drawing  paper  and  extra 
materials. 

9.  The  Music  room  should  be  equipped  with  a  piano  a  phono- 
graph and  a  small  stage  and  with  lecture  seats  for  40  pupils.  It 
should  also  be  provided  with  a  screen  and  a  lantern.  It  could 
thus  be  used  as  a  general  lecture  room  and  a  room  for  dramatic 
rehearsals  as  well  as  a  music  room.  The  equipment  should  ako 
include  cabinets  for  musical  instruments,  player  piano  rolls  and 
lantern  slides.  The  windows  should  be  provided  with  opaque 
blinds   or   curtains   in   addition   to   the   usual   adjustable   s.hrdes. 

-  32— 


10.  The  Auditorium.  This  room  should  seat  about  800  persons, 
and  have  a  full  stage  equipment  and  dressing  rooms. 

A  moving  picture  booth  and  screen  mounting  should  be  included 
in  the  design. 

11.  The  Cafeteria  and  lunch  room.  These  should  be  adjacent, 
with  a  kitchen  between  of  sufficient  capacity  to  serve  milk,  cocoa 
and  other  lunch  accessories  to  those  children  who  carry  their 
luncheons  as  well  as  to  supply  the  regular  kitchen  service  to  the 
cafeteria. 

The  combined  capacity  of  the  cafeteria  and  lunch  room  should 
be  sufficient  for  the  accommodation  of  800  pupils  in  two  or  three 
shifts. 

12.  General  considerations.  All  rooms  especially  shops  labora- 
tories and  other  special  rooms  should  be  equipped  with  wash  stands 
and  running  water. 

All  windows  excepting  those  facing  north  (and  of  these  there 
should  be  very  few)  should  be  equipped  with  semi-transparent  ad- 
justable shades  of  the  Draper  type. 

The  walls  should  be  decorated  with  a  "flat"  oil  paint.  Rooms 
facing  north  should  be  colored  a  strong  daffodil  yellow.  Rooms 
likely  to  have  strong  light  are  best  decorated  in  a  light  soft  tone  of 
brown.  For  the  walls  of  corridors  and  for  some  of  the  labora- 
tories and  shops  a  plaster  finish  is  less  desirable  than  light  cream 
or  yellow  faced  brick.  Glazed  brick  that  will  not  take  pencil 
marks  easily  is  best  for  the  walls  of  toilet  rooms. 

Corridors  and  stairways  should  be  so  designed  that  they  can 
receive  adequate  daylight  on  bright  days  and  can  be  well  lighted 
artificially  on  dark  days. 

The  lighting  of  all  rooms  excepting  possibly  some  shops  and 
laboratories  should  be  from  the  left  only.  The  windows  should  be 
massed  with  narrow  beveled  mullions  between  and  the  most 
forward  window  should  be  at  least  five  feet  from  the  front  wall. 
Tops  of  windows  should  reach  to  as  near  the  ceiling  as  construction 
will  permit — in  any  case  not  more  than  8  inches  from  it.  Lower 
sills  of  windows  should  be  from  three  to  four  feet  above  floors. 
The  total  clear  glass  window  area  should  equal  not  less  than  one- 
fifth  of  the  floor  area  and  the  width  of  that  part  of  the  room  which 
is  used  for  writing  and  reading  should  not  be  greater  than  twice 
the  height  of  the  tops  of  the  window  sashes  above  the  floor. 

Since  the  height  of  the  ceilings  should  not  be  much  over  12% 
feet  this  rule  limits  the  width  of  a  classroom  to  24  feet  or  25  feet. 
It  would  be  well  to  make  a  few  of  the  classrooms  a  little  larger 
than  the  others;  and  place  the  windows  of  each  in  two  groups 
rather  than  one;  so  that  any  of  these  large  rooms  could  be  divided 
by  a  partition  into  two  small  recitation  rooms  in  case  of  future 
needs  in  connection  with  the  prospective  senior  high  school. 

Every  classroom  should  have  a  built-in  storage  closet  a  built-in 
case  for  specimens  and  books  and  a  reading  table  near  the  book- 
case. There  should  be  a  display  board  for  pictures,  clippings,  etc., 
and  a  display  moulding  above  the  blackboard.  The  height  and 
width  of  the  blackboards  should  be  adapted  to  the  average  height 
of  the   grade   of  pupils   using   the  room.     Blackboards   should   be   of 

—33- 


the   best   quality   of   black   slate:   any   other   quality   is    a   very   bad 
investment. 

The  following  are   the  approved  data   for  blackboards: 

Height  of  lower 

Grades  Width  edr?e  from  floor 

I  and  II  30  inches  24_26  inches 

III  and  IV 36       "  2C.28       " 

V  and  VI 36       "  28_30       " 

VII   and   VIII   42       "  30_34       " 

IX  to  XII  42        "  34_36        " 

Teacher's  board 48       "  36 

The  floor  plans  should  include  ample  space  for  the  principal's 
office,  a  large  outer  office  or  lobby,  a  record  vault  and  toilet  room. 
A  small  separate  office  for  the  stenographer  clerk  separated  from 
the  lobby  by  a  glass  partition  is  also  very  desirable. 

Space  should  be  provided  in  the  plans  for  2  teachers'  retiring 
rooms,  2  pupils'  retiring  rooms,  a  clinic  room  and  one  or  two 
committee  rooms  and  offices  for  pupils'  organizations.  These  latter 
should  be  so  located  in  the  building  as  to  be  under  easy  observation 
by  teachers  or  administrative  assistants. 

There  should,  of  course,  be  adequate  locker  space  and  ample 
toilet   facilities    on    each    floor    and   bicycle    rooms   in    the    basement. 

13.  Cost.  The  cost  of  this  building  at  present  (1921)  prices 
would  be  somewhere  in  the  neighborhood  of  $450,000  to  $500,000. 

14.  Later  provisions  for  a  Senior  high  school.  The  additional 
laboratories  and  shops  that  will  be  needed  ultimately  to  provide  for 
a  complete  and  comprehensive  senior  high  school  organization  are 
as  follows: 

Physical  Science  Group. — physics  laboratory,  chemistry 
laboratory  with  supplementary  demonstration-recitation 
room  and  store  rooms.  3  units. 

Biology — Geography    Groups.     Biology    laboratory,   geo- 
graphy laboratory,  with   supplementary   demonstration- 
recitation  room  and  store  rooms.  3  units. 
Household   Arts    Group.— Dressmaking   laboratory,   mil- 
linery laboratory,  with  fitting  and  stock  room.  2  units. 
Shop    Group. — Machine    shop,    automobile    shop,    forge 
shop,  sheet  metal  shop,  with  stock  and  tool  rooms.  6  units. 
Woodworkins  shop,  wood   turning  and  pattern-making 
shop    and    house-framing    shop    with    stock     and    tool 
rooms.                                                                                               4  units. 

The  plans  should  provide  as  completely  as  possible  for  the 
placing  of  all  shops  in  one  wing  and  all  laboratory  groups  in  the 
other  wing,  in  order  that  the  noise  of  the  shops  shall  disturb  the 
work  of  the  classrooms  as  little  as  possible. 

15.  Adequacy  of  the  plans.  If  the  plans  for  this  building  are 
carefully  worked  out  on  the  lines  suggested  with  the  additional 
senior  high  school  units  all  provided  for  so  that  they  may  be  built 
on  when  needed,  the  building  will,  in  my  opinion,  be  flexible 
enough  to  be  adapted  to  every  purpose  for  which  it  will  be  needed. 
It  will  afford  facilities  for  every  kind  of  school  activity  that  the 
most    enterprising    and    forward-looking    manufacturing    community 

—34- 


is  likely  to  want,  and  at  a  much  smaller  ultimate  outlay  than  if  these 
were  to   be  provided  for  by  smaller  special  type  buildings. 

II.      SITES. 

1.     Size  and   Cost. 

The  site  for  such  a  building  as  has  been  proposed  should  in- 
clude an  area  certainly  not  less  than  400  x  300  feet;  and  it  should 
be  as  much  larger  as  possible.  Undoubtedly  the  land  can  be  had 
now  for  less  than  it  ever  can  be  obtained  later,  and  it  would  be 
a  most  regrettable  mistake  not  to  get  enough  while  the  getting  is 
fairly  good.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  a  city  must  have 
i  laygrounds,  and  the  place  for  playgrounds  is  where  they  can  be 
easily  reached  by  the  largest  number  of  children.  Since  the  same 
is  true  of  schoolhouses  and  since  work,  study  and  play  must  go 
together  in  proper  proportions  in  the  education  of  every  child, 
schoolgrounds  and  playgrounds  should  for  the  most  part  be  identi- 
cal. When  erecting  a  building  to  cost  $500,000,  $25,000  is  certainly 
not  too  much  to  invest  in  a  site  for  the  building  and  the  necessary 
additional  land  for  lawn,  playgrounds;  athletic  field  and  school 
gardens.     This  is  only  5%  of  the  total  cost. 

2.     Acquiring  the  Sites. 

The  board  is  therefore  urged  to  get  options  on  as  large  a  plot 
as  this  amount  will  buy  and  do  it  as  quietly  as  possible  through 
trusted  agents,  before  owners  get  wind  of  their  intentions  and  boost 
the  price.  If,  however,  any  price-boosting  should  be  attempted  it 
would  be  well  to  pick  the  plot,  have  a  fair  board  of  appraisers 
determine  a  just  price,  offer  this  price,  and  if  it  be  not  accepted, 
begin  condemnation  proceedings  at  once. 

A  similar  site  should  be  acquired  for  the  west  side  school  No.  12 
and  for  the  east  side  school  No.  13  if  there  is  any  way  in  which  it 
can  be  done  legally.  It  will  be  poor  business  policy  indeed  to  wait 
to  buy  these  sites  until  the  need  for  them  is  immediate  and  urgent. 
Plots  that  would  be  suitable  and  are  now  vacant  land  will,  in  all 
probability,  be  built  on  by  that  time  and  the  board  will  then  have 
to  condemn  and  pay  for  houses  that  will  be  a  dead  loss  and  entail 
a  freat  expense.  If  there  is  no  legal  way  in  which  the  board 
can  acquire  such  land  then  an  attempt  should  be  made  to  pet 
some  wealthy  and  public-spirited  citizen  to  buy  the  chosen  plots 
and  hold  them  for  the  board,  until  it  can  legally  purchase  them,  at 
cost  plus  interest  and  taxes.  No  philanthropist  could  find  a 
better  way  in  which  to  help  the  city  do  a  big  thing  for  its 
children  than  to  buy  for  the  school  board  these  three  plots  of  land 
— as  large  plots  as  possible,  and  allow  them  to  be  used  in  the  mean- 
time as  public  playgrounds  to  be  maintained  by  a  suitable  associa- 
tion formed  for  the  purpose.  When  the  time  came  for  the  board 
to  buy,  the  philanthropist  would  have  his  capital  back  with  interest 
plus  tax  payments,  and  would  be  making  the  city  a  present 
only  of  the  unearned  increment  in  the  land  value,  an  increment 
which  the  city  itself  will  have  created,  and  which  therefore  every- 
body should  rejoice  to  have  returned  to  it  in  such  fair  and 
generous    fashion. 

—35— 


III.      EXISTING    BUILDINGS. 

1.  Washington  School.  This  building  was  once  abandoned  and 
for  very  good  reasons,  but  has  been  pressed  into  service  to  meet 
con  vested  conditions.  The  lot  is  utterly  unsuitable  for  school  pur- 
poses. Heavy  interurban  cars  pass  frequently  near  the  left  side 
and  also  near  the  front  of  the  buliding,  which  also  overlooks  a 
lumber  yard  and  railway  freight  house.  There  are  blast  furnaces 
with  their  noisy  blowing  engines  on  the  left,  and  the  railway  trains 
are  passing  and  endlessly  by  its  right  and  rear.  It  is  choked  and 
begrimed  with  smoke  and  dust.  There  are  cracks  in  the  walls 
everywhere,  among  them  a  very  bad  crack  in  the  rear  which  looks 
dangerous.  It  is  and  always  was  as  bad  a  fire  trap  as  the  notorious 
Collinwood  building. 

The  lighting  in  all  the  rooms  is  grossly  inadequate,  being  far 
below  the  standards  required  by  state  law. 

The  blackboards  are  inadequate  in  amount  or  in  unfit  condition 
for  use  in  every  room. 

The  toilet  facilities  are  inadequate. 

The  third  floor  of  the  building  is  used  by  lodges  and  societies 
often  during  the  daytime.  It  is  dirty  and  poorly  cared  for,  and 
these  conditions  add  to  the  other  annoyances. 

This  building  unquestionably  should  be  abandoned  at  (he  end 
of  this  school  year,  and  should  never  be  used  for  school  purposes 
again.  Any  money  spent  in  fixing  it  up  will  be  worse  than  thrown 
away. 

The  school  board  could  probably  get  a  very  good  price  for  this 
property.  In  my  opinion,  they  should  sell  it  at  the  best  price  they 
can  get,  and  use  the  money  to  buy  sites  for  the  new  buildings,  one 
of  which  I  have  shown  will  be  needed  immediately  and  the  other 
two  ultimately.  The  price  which  I  believe  they  can  get  would  buy 
the  three  sites  wanted,  erect  the  shop  addition  to  McKinley  high 
school,  and  go  a  long  way  toward  buying  all  the  equipment  for 
the  new  east  side  school.  I  am  not  sure  that  it  would  not  go 
farther  than  that. 

I  have  learned  that  an  influential  body  of  citizens  oppose  the 
selling  of  this  building,  urging  that  the  board  keep  it  for  a 
playground.  I  cannot  see  how  the  board  can  do  this  consistently 
with  the  functions  for  which  it  is  created  by  the  state.  The  board 
should  not  maintain  one  playground  with  capital  that  will  buy 
three,  when  that  one  has  no  connection  with  a  school  building  to 
be  used  immediately  or  in  the  .future.  If  the  city  wants  the 
Washington  school  lot  for  a  playground  and  can  afford  to  own  it 
for  that  use,  let  the  city  buy  it  or  let  some  generous  person  buy  it 
and  present  it  to  the  city. 

It  seems  to  me  that  for  the  board  of  education  to  retain  this 
plot  would  obviously  be  unfair,  since  they  could  invest  the  capital 
involved  to  so  much  more  advantage  to  all  the  children  of  the 
city.  I  therefore  recommend  that  the  board  have  this  plot  appraised 
by  a  fair  and  just  board  of  competent  experts,  some  of  whom  are 
not  in  any  way  interested  in  Niles  real  estate,  and  offered  for  sale 
at  the  highest  bid  above  the  appraisement.  If  widely  advertised 
and  sold  in  this  way  it  ought  to  bring  a  very  good  price. 

—36— 


2.  Monroe  School.  This  school  has  four  rooms  and  corridors 
so  designed  as  lo  form  half  of  an  8-room  building.  There  is  space 
on  the  lot  for  an  addition  to  complete  the  building;  but  such  an 
addition  would  in  my  opinion  be  a  very  bad  investment;  because 
the  building  is  situated  so  near  the  railway  tracks  that  during  the 
frequent  passages  of  trains  the  work  of  classes  on  that  side  of  the 
building  has  to  be  stopped.  Furthermore  the  character  of  the  "loop" 
district  where  this  building  is  located  is  such  that  its  destiny  as  a 
residence  district  is  very  uncertain.  It  looks  likely  to  become  an 
area  consisting  of  lumber  yards,  small  factories  and  railroad 
switches,  in  which  case  it  obviously  would  be  bad  business  policy 
to  invest  money  in  buildings  or  additions  for  this  district.  In  my 
judgment  it  will  be  better  not  to  add  to  this  building,  but  to  wait  and 
see  what  is  going  to  happen.  In  the  mean  time  if  more  rooms 
should  be  urgently  needed  here,  which  I  do  not  think  likely,  a  few 
good  portable  buildings  can  be  placed  on  the  lot  on  the  side  oppo- 
site that  on  which  the  railroad  is. 

The  rooms  of  this  building  are  dingy  and  need  redecorating 
and  many  of  the  window  shades  are  worn  out,  but  the  rooms  in 
themselves    are   otherwise   unobjectionable. 

The  worn  out  shades  should  be  replaced  by  the  tough  semi- 
transparent  adjustable  school  shades  of  the  Draper  type;  and  the 
walls  should  be  repainted  with  a  bright  daffodil  or  light  brown 
tone. 

The  toilets  are  none  too  clean,  and  should  be  kept  cleaner,  but 
otherwise  ore  satisfactory. 

3.  Jefferson  building.  The  rooms  in  this  building  are  fairly 
well  designed  and  well  lighted.  Two  basement  rooms  have  been 
pressed  into  service,  which  are  too  small  for  the  number  seated 
in  them  Their  use  is  justified  in  the  emergency  of  the  present  year; 
but  their  use  as  classrooms  should  be  discontinued  as  soon  as 
possible. 

The  toilet  facilities  are  satisfactory  in  quality  but  short  in 
quantity.  They  are  sufficient  to  provide  according  to  Ohio  legal 
standards   for  350   pupils,  while   there   are   450  pupils   enrolled. 

The  buildin  needs  redecorating;  and  it  needs  more  artificial 
lights  distributed  more  efficiently.  The  number,  power  and  dis- 
tribution of  artificial  lights  for  school  rooms  should  in  every  case 
be  .figured  out  by  an  illuminating  expert  before  installing  them. 

This  building  has  an  adequate  lot  and  is  so  constructed  that  an 
addition  can  be  built  on  to  it  when  necessary.  When  this  addition 
is  projected  i?  should  be  planned  to  include  an  auditorium,  gym- 
nasium and  laboratories  for  a  complete  nine  grade  school  as  recom- 
mended in  the  second  chapter  of  this  report. 

4.  Lincoln  Building.  This  building  is  badly  in  need  of  re- 
decorating. Many  of  the  walls  are  badly  cracked  and  need  pointing 
up;  and  the  old  paint  is  scaling  off  in  many  places.  The  paint  used 
is  for  the  most  part  a  glaring,  crude  and  unpleasant  green.  A  flat 
oil  wall  color— daffodil  yellow  or  a  light  soft  tone  of  brown  should 
be  used  here,  as  has  been  recommended  for  all  buildings. 

5.  Jackson  Building.  This  building  has  8  rooms  and  cannot 
be  added  to.  It  is  built  almost  up  to  the  sidewalk  so  the  front 
rooms    are    exposed    to    the    noise    and    dust    of   traffic.      Like    many 


1 3  36  2 3 


buildings  of  its  time  in  other  cities,  it  is  too  small  to  be  efficient,  is 
badly  located,  is  on  too  small  a  lot,  and  is  not  well  designed.  Under 
present  circumstances  however  it  is  worth  keeping  in  good  repair, 
and  should  render  fair  service  for  a  number  of  years  to  come. 

6.  Grant  School.  This  two-room  building  is  so  poorly  designed 
that  it  is  nearly  worthless  for  formal  school  work,  though  it  will 
answer  fairly  for  kindergarten  and  first  grade.  The  light  comes 
from  three  sides,  giving  rise  to  cross  shadows  which  are  very  bad 
for  the  eyes.  If  the  blinds  are  drawn  on  the  right  side  to  remedy 
this,  then  there  will  not  be  enough  light.  There  is  no  way  to  cor- 
rect this  condition. 

I  advise  that  this  building  be  abandoned  as  soon  as  feasible — 
next  year  if  it  can  be — or  used  only  as  a  kindergarten. 

Kindergartens  should  be  started  in  Niles  and  this  would  be  a 
good  place  to  start  one  next  year.  I  recommend  this  proposal  for 
serious  consideration.  If  so  used  the  rooms  should  be  redecorated, 
made  artistic  and  home  like,  and  fitted  out  with  kindergarten  ma- 
terials and  storage  cabinets  in  which  to  keep  them. 

The  blackboards  now  in  use  are  of  the  plaster  variety  and 
very  poor. 

After  the  present  state  of  congestion  has  been  effectively  re- 
lieved I  believe  that  this  building  and  lot  should  be  abandoned 
and  sold. 

The  other  buildings  require  no  further  comment. 


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TABLE   II-A. 

CALCULATION  OF  INCREASE  OF  SCHOOL  POPULATION. 

Enrolment     Increase   % 
Grade  1915    1920  5  yrs.  Increase 

I 223  474  251  112.6 

II 216  292  76    35.2 

III 192  276  84    44.7 

IV 190  283  93    48.9 

V 152  224  72    47.4 

VI 189  276  87    46.0 

I. VI  combined 1162  1825  663    57 

VII 152  203  51    33.6 

VIII 118  182  64        54  2 

VII_VIII  combined 270  385  115        42.6 

I.VIII  combined 1432  2210  778        54.3 

IX 137  133  —4  —3 

X 82  114  32        39 

XI 57  83  26        46 

XII 40  70  30        75 

IX-XII  combined 316  400  84        27 

I-XII  combined 1748  2610  862        49 

2210X.54=1193,  the  estimated  increase  by  1925,  Grades  I-VIII. 

400X.27=  108,  the  estimated  increase  by  1925,  High  School. 

Total  increase  i301 

1301-^-5=260+  estimated  annual  increase,  all  grades. 
1193^-5=239 —  estimated  annual  increase,  grades  I-VIII. 
108-^-5=  21 —  estimated  annual  increase,  grades  IX-XII. 


TABLE   III. 

ANALYSIS    OP    DATA    FROM    TABLES    I    AND    II     FOR    DETERMINING 

THE  NUMBER  OF  PUPILS  FOR  WHOM  ADDITIONAL  BUILDING 

CAPACITY    MUST    BE    PROVIDED 


6 


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BUILDINGS  Sj,  >>«}  0  a^  u  * 

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**  »  o  £o  %  % 

eho       a<2       z*        Zv        a        a 

Jefferson   -  424  64  360  446  ~         86 

Lincoln 373  __  373  397  __         24 

Garfield   204  19  185  198  __         13 

Jackson 369  __  369  339  30 

Monroe  180  ___  180  142  38 

Harrison 137  ___  137  137 

Washington   134  134  ___  118  ._       118 

Grant  112  112  __.  131  _.       131 

Elementary  buildings  combined  1933      329       1604       1908        68      372 
McKinley  (capacity  estimated)  663        698        __         35 

Total  present  capacity   (net)    2267       2606        68      407 

Roosevelt,  Sept.  1921   306       306       __. 

Garfield  Addition,  1921  228      228      ___ 

Total  net  capacity  present  and  projected 2801  602      407 

Estimated  increase  enrolment  by  1925-6 1301  1301 

Additional  pupil  capacity  required  1925 1106       602     1708 

Estimated   Total    1925-6    3907      3907 

1106 

Number  of  rooms  required  on  basis  of  40  pupils  per  room =  28 

40 
1106 

Number  of  rooms  required  on  basis  of  35  pupils  per  room  =  32 

35 


TABLE   IV. 

DISTRIBUTION   OF    THE   NILES   SCHOOL   ENROLMENT    ACCORDING    TO 

SCHOOLS    AND    SECTIONS    OF    THE    CITY,    AS    REVEALED 

BY  COUNT   OF  THE   PIN-MAPS. 

Section  of  City                     1A    IB      2A     2B        3     Loop     4  Total 

Senior  High  (Grades  IX-XII)     30  105      40     110      20        4      18  327* 

Junior  High  (grades  VII-VIII)  27     74       49      92      49      47      55  393 

Jefferson    0      0        3       28     312     103        0  440 

Lincoln  6      0      88     219      36      46        0  395 

Jackson     48  255        5        2        0        4        0  314 

Garfield    0      3        0        0        1         1     183  188 

Monroe   0      0        0        0      21     118        0  139 

Grant     170 

Washington   (4th  grade) 

(Old  Central)  37 

Harrison     140 

111  437     185     451     439    323     256  2549 

*  Senior  High  School  registration  incomplete.    The  total  is  400. 


TABLE  V. 


INCREASE  IN  ENROLMENT,    GRADES   VII -XII,    1915-1920. 


6 


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70 

30 

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114 

32 

39.0 

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IX    __ 

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IX-XII     

316 

400 

84 

26.6 

400 

__ 

__ 

VIII  . 

118 

182 

64 

54.2 

142 

40 



VII    . 

152 

203 

51 

33.6 

156 

39 

8 

Total 

VII-VIII     __ 

270 

385 

115 

42.6 

298 

79 

Total 

VII-XII    

586 

785 

199 

34.0 

698 

79 

8 

TABLE   VI. 

CALCULATION    OF    WORKING    CAPACITY    OF    McKINLEY    HIGH 
SCHOOL  BUILDING. 

Note. — The  calculation  is  based  on  the  following-  assumptions: 
(1)  That  the  average  size  of  class  section  is  25  pupils.  (2)  That 
the  average  pupil  will  spend  1-3  of  his  time  in  study  hall  gym- 
nasium and  2-3  in  class  rooms  and  special  rooms.  (3)  That  as 
a  result  of  (2)  the  maximum  enrolment  theoretically  can  be  1-3 
greater  than  the  combined  class  room  and  special  room  capacity. 
(4)  That  an  allowance  of  15%  must  be  deducted  from  the  maxi- 
mum theoretical  capacity  on  account  of  pupils  taking  extra  sub- 
jects, on  account  of  the  existence  of  small  classes  in  certain 
subjects  and  on  account  of  numerous  other  unavoidable  contin- 
gencies in  adjusting  classes   to  rooms  and  time  schedule. 


Number  of      Pupils 
Kinds    of   Rooms  such  rooms    per  room 

Medium  sized  classrooms 14  25 

Small    classrooms    3  25 

Cooking,  Chemistry,  Typing 3  20 

Sewing,  Commercial,  Physics 4  25 

Combined 24 

Plus  1-3  in  Study  Hall  and  Gym. 

Total  capacity,  theoretical 

Less  contingent  allowance  15% 

Net  capacity,  practical   

Study  Halls 2      108  &  80 

Gymnasium    1  40 

Combined     3 

Recpiired  (theoretical)   1-3  of  780 

Theoretical   shortage   

Auditorium    1  800 


Capacity 

350 

75 

60 
100 

585 
195 

780 
117 

663 

182 

40 

222 
260 

~38 

800 


TABLE  VII. 

CALCULATION    AND    ESTIMATE    FOR    ENROLMENT,    GRADES    VII-XII 
FOR    SEPTEMBER    1921. 

Section   A. 

Present  enrolment  Grades  IX-XII 400 

VIII  promoted  to  IX  (McKinley)  142 

VIII  promoted  to  IX  (Washington)   40 

From  Weathersfield  Township  30 

From  Parochial  Schools   (Est.)   20 

Total,  Grades  IX-XII  632 

Less  loss  by  graduation  70 

Less  loss  by  estimated  eliminations 30  100 

Net  probable  enrolment  IX-XII 532 

VI  promoted  to  VII  (see  Section  D,  below)  238 

VII  promoted  to  VIII  (see  Section  D  below) 184 

Total  probable  enrolment  VII-XII 954 

Excess  over  present  total  of  777 177 

Section  B. 

%  gain     Average  % 
Grade  1915         1920         Gain     5  years    gain,  1  year 

VI     189            276            87            46  9.2 

VII   152            203            51            33.6  6.7 

VIII    118            182            64            54.2  10.8 

Section  C. 

1915       1915     1916          1920        1921     1921  Average 
Grade             Enrolment  loss  %  loss  Enrolment  Loss  %  loss  7r  loss 

VI    189  __       —  276 

VII    152          37      19.6            203          73      26.4  23.0 

VIII    118          34      22.4            182          21       10.3  16.3 

Section  D. 

1920                                 Net           1920         Net        Estimated  1921 

Grade       Loss     Gain     loss     enrolment     loss     enrolment  '21  Grade 

VI 23.0%  9.2%  13.8%         276            38             238  VII 

VII 16.3%  6.7%     9.6%          203            19              184  VIII 


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